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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25926433">liar, liar</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/justwhatialwayswanted/pseuds/justwhatialwayswanted'>justwhatialwayswanted</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Foxes Always Win (or, Don't Piss Off Hemmick's Gang) [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>All For The Game - Nora Sakavic</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Mob, British Neil Josten, Established Relationship, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Multi, References to Conversion Therapy, dark!Nicky, dark!Renee, in general cw for nicky and andrew's canon backstories (among others), the OMCs/OFCs are mainly kloses</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 04:28:10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>21,778</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25926433</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/justwhatialwayswanted/pseuds/justwhatialwayswanted</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Mobs don't just spring up out of nowhere. And Nicholas Hemmick and his foxes are no exception.</p><p>(Look, Nicky has a grudge, and if the Kloses and the Hatfords are willing to help him out, he won't say no. But he's going to garner a little recognition for himself along the way.)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Katelyn/Aaron Minyard, Nicky Hemmick &amp; Andrew Minyard, Nicky Hemmick/Erik Klose</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Foxes Always Win (or, Don't Piss Off Hemmick's Gang) [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1870927</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>57</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Teaser</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>psa: this fic updates SLOOOOOWLY (like, 'be surprised if it updates in any season other than the summer' slowly), but it is indeed still being updated! my goal is to write a bunch of chapters at once so i can space them out and we don't have any more long-ass hiatuses like this one. dw, i haven't abandoned it!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Mobs don't just spring up out of nowhere. And Nicholas Hemmick and his foxes are no exception.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>If your intel is good, you know that the Klose family has strong connections to him. If your intel is even better, you know that the Hatfords are backing him as well.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And if your intel is very poor indeed, all you know is that Luther and Maria Hemmick don't discuss their son anymore. There are lots of reasons why: his lifechanging trip to Germany, the picture he'd texted them of him at Pride with middle fingers raised, the shards of the broken vase that had littered the front hallway. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The scar in their dining room table where someone had dragged the tip of a knife through it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>No, Luther and Maria Hemmick don't discuss their son anymore. It's probably for the best. This way, they won't get involved in any of Nicky's business.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They'd had to learn that the hard way.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Nicky is doing his best to look normal as he walks into Eden's kitchen.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And his best is very, </span>
  <em>
    <span>very</span>
  </em>
  <span> good, but it's never been good enough to fool Andrew, who looks up from the sink, narrows his eyes, and says, "Stop it."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He lets the facade drop and grins. "Can't. Sorry not sorry. Roland caught feelings, better shut that down if you're not lying about just wanting a hookup."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andrew turns back to the dishes, stacking the clean ones on the drying rack. "And you know this how?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Oh, you know. Flirting with customers is all fun and games until they slip you their number and you blatantly toss it while trying not to stare over your shoulder at the kitchen like if you're patient enough your 'casual hookup'—" Andrew is visibly holding back an eyeroll at Nicky's frankly excellent use of air quotes— "will appear and pull a Fitzwilliam Darcy before the end of your shift."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andrew is silent for several seconds, which is a long time for him when there's potential for any kind of cruelly witty comment. He loads the next round of dishes into the sink. Then he says, "Hm. He probably should have kept that number."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"What can I say, it's cuffing season." Nicky leans on the edge of the sink. He's probably going to get some water on his ass, but whatever, he's wearing black jeans and nobody's going to see it once he gets back behind the bar anyway. More importantly, this way he can watch Andrew's face as he pretends to calmly wash dishes. It's impressively stoic. He probably won't crack, but Nicky's keeping an eye out just in case. He's had to fight for everything he knows about this thing with Andrew and Roland (besides when to stay out of the staffroom), which means he knows Andrew is not in the business of welcoming </span>
  <em>
    <span>feelings.</span>
  </em>
  <span> Roland, apparently, is. And sure, Nicky feels some glee over having new material to make fun of Andrew with, but it's only fun if Andrew is willing to be made fun of. Otherwise there's just a lot of awkward silences and threatening stares.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"The words that come out of your mouth get more inane every day," Andrew says finally, and he elbows Nicky in the side, who gets the hint and pushes off the counter. But it's more of a nudge than anything, much gentler than he used to interact with anyone. Nicky still remembers the early-morning shoves back when Andrew and Aaron were in high school if Nicky blocked the coffeepot for too long. He'll take a comparatively mild elbow to the side over that any day.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Anyway," he says. His ass definitely feels wet. Ugh. "That's not all."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andrew quirks an eyebrow, Nicky nods, and Andrew turns on the sprayer.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Got some gossip," Nicky murmurs, loud enough that Andrew can hear him, quiet enough that if anyone else walks into the kitchen they won't know what he's saying. They avoid speaking German in public as much as possible—Columbia </span>
  <em>
    <span>is</span>
  </em>
  <span> in Moriyama territory, and as Erik has told him approximately eight million times, Nicky's already got too much public history with the Kloses. They can't afford any more obvious connections. If the Moriyamas find out Andrew speaks German too, then the two of them will be taken out before they can say 'no, thanks.' "Perfect Court's splitting up. Apparently Kevin Day had a very public screaming fit about his contract and quit Baltimore. Nobody knows where he is."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Nobody?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Nobody who freely gossips about exy players at a club on a weeknight," Nicky amends.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"What about the others?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Didn't hear anything. Riko's probably staying where he is, because, you know, Baltimore." It's one of the Moriyamas' biggest strongholds in the US, second only to New York City. Nicky doesn't know much about the Butcher, but he knows he doesn't want to get in his way. As long as he's alive and kicking, nobody else is going to be able to get a piece of Baltimore.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andrew nods. "Moreau's probably with him, then."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"That's what I think too." Nicky shrugs at him. "I'm not really sure what to make of it. Erik might have some ideas. But I figured it would be relevant."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"If you're going to call Erik when we get home, give me some warning before you get to the part that makes me want to remove my ears."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"No promises." Nicky winks. He can't resist. "Don't pull a Van Gogh on me. If you send your severed ear to Roland he might cherish it, and then what are you going to do?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andrew flicks droplets of water vaguely in Nicky's direction. At least it's not the sprayer. 'Wet T-shirt contest winner' is not the look Nicky is going for tonight. "Go lead on customers."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nicky fake gasps. "I would never."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>(He totally will, but hey, it's not his fault people see a smile and draw the wrong conclusions. Money is money. And anyway, Andrew has no room to talk. When he's bartending, he just stands there and broods. It nets them </span>
  <em>
    <span>so</span>
  </em>
  <span> many tips.)</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Just before he leaves the kitchen, he glances back at Andrew, who is frowning at the sink. Nicky's not sure if it's because of Roland or the Moriyamas.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Speaking of Roland.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He's used to Nicky's 'bathroom breaks' by now—every bartender who isn't Andrew is. Nicky, unfortunately, does not have an eidetic memory, and Andrew doesn't have a customer service voice, which means usually Nicky's the one gathering the information and he has to go deliver it to Andrew before he forgets. He lets the rest of Eden's staff think he has an exceptionally small bladder.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Roland grins at Nicky when he returns to the bar. "Hey, good timing. My break's in five." He sets something violently blue on the counter in front of a girl with spiky hair and adds, fake casually, "You know if Andrew's on break right now?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I'm pretty sure he already took his," Nicky lies easily. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Without you,</span>
  </em>
  <span> he does not say. But it's implied.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"'Kay." Roland doesn't blink. He </span>
  <em>
    <span>does</span>
  </em>
  <span> turn to the next person at the bar extremely quickly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andrew would probably gut Nicky if he knew Nicky was trying to gently deflect Roland from doing anything like actually talking to Andrew about his feelings. But by now, Nicky knows what an intrigued Andrew looks like, and he also knows what a dismissive Andrew looks like, and the Andrew who reacted to Nicky's news about Roland was neither. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Which means he was probably not pleased, which means Nicky's going to enable some top-notch avoidance of the issue.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The people who were talking about Kevin Day earlier are nowhere to be seen, but Nicky had stuck around until their conversation stopped being interesting, so he's not bothered. The Kloses don't expect him and Andrew to glean every scrap of information that passes through Eden's. Anything is better than the complete blackout they'd had on the East Coast before Nicky had moved back to the States. And Nicky and Andrew are good at it, after several years. They pass things on to Erik a couple of times a week by now, which is impressive considering most of the people at Eden's are there to get drunk and dance, not gossip about the Moriyamas.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Aaron still has absolutely no idea, but that's intentional. He's had enough going on at college, and now that he's a senior, he'll be busy applying to med school on top of all of his coursework. He doesn't need to know that Nicky's fiancé is the heir apparent to an influential German crime syndicate that was responsible for the huge scholarship that's essentially paying Aaron's tuition. He also doesn't need to know that Nicky and Andrew are secretly working for said German crime syndicate. He's got enough on his mind.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A future doctor and a future international criminal. Nicky has done </span>
  <em>
    <span>such</span>
  </em>
  <span> a good job of raising them.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Roland returns from his break, and the rest of Nicky's shift passes by as usual. Nicky loves the atmosphere at Eden's, and the fairly anonymous flirting with people who don't actually give a shit about him (and vice versa) is fun, but after several years of doing it, one night's a lot like the next.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>At least he's got news for Erik. He doesn't actually </span>
  <em>
    <span>need</span>
  </em>
  <span> an excuse to call, but it's always nice to have one, especially since it's usually morning in Germany when Nicky gets home from work. As in, the time when Erik should probably be working, since he's got loads to do. But he always makes time.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It's... really nice, actually. Nicky's spent years with someone who can and will put off responsibilities for 'just a few more minutes' to spend time with him. And he's still getting used to it. He will probably implode from that feeling in his first week back in Germany.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Aaron graduates in May. Nicky hasn't decided what to do about that yet. Aaron's obviously connected to him, and if Nicky flies back to Germany the day after Aaron's graduation and officially becomes a Klose, then...</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hm. Maybe he can subtly steer Aaron towards schools on the West Coast. Or, like, the Midwest. There isn't anywhere in the United States that's a hundred percent safe from the Moriyamas, but they're definitely strongest in the east. And if Andrew wants to stay in the States for whatever reason, he can keep an eye on Aaron.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But he doesn't really need to figure that out for several months. It's only October. Nicky has full faith in his ability to procrastinate. And in the meantime, since it's not like he needs to build up savings for his own future, whatever's left from his paycheck after living expenses is going into saving for med school. Erik's parents have made it clear they're willing to work out another fake scholarship, but Nicky doesn't want to be a drain on them before he's even officially part of the family. Might make his relationship with the in-laws a bit tense.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He mixes drinks and smiles at customers almost on autopilot, always listening for anything interesting, but nothing else comes up, and soon enough it's two and he's clocking out and grabbing his jacket from the staffroom. Andrew's not in the kitchen, but he usually gets out of there faster than Nicky does. They have a whole system worked out. Nicky texts him anyway.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Nicky:</b>
  <span> u getting the car</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Nicky:</b>
  <span> ?</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Andrew:</b>
  <span> yes</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Nicky:</b>
  <span> dont text and drive ill ground u</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Andrew:</b>
  <span> a) i'm not driving yet</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Andrew:</b>
  <span> b) i'd like to see you try</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Nicky:</b>
  <span> lmao k ill be in the usual spot</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Andrew doesn't respond. Nicky slips his phone in his pocket, waves to Keira, who's taking over as the dishwasher until closing, and steps outside. The staff door out of Eden's opens into a side street that's really barely more than an alley. There's graffiti and cigarette butts that Nicky is like ninety percent sure are not Andrew's ("don't litter, I raised you better than that," he can almost hear himself saying), and a general air of griminess.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andrew will be here in a couple of minutes, in the loaded GS that has honestly grown on Nicky a lot, and they'll head home at only like ten miles over the speed limit (Andrew's mellowed with age), and they'll call Erik and relay what they heard, and then Andrew will go to bed and Nicky will stay up talking to Erik until his eyes are closing and Erik's emails are piling up. And then he'll fall asleep and they'll do it all again tomorrow.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It's not a bad way to spend the time until he can be back in Germany.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The air is crisp enough that Nicky's glad he brought his jacket, and he can just barely hear the bass from whatever music is playing inside Eden's, but there's still something peaceful about this time of night, knowing all he has to do is go home, sleep, and come back tomorrow. Or later today, depending on how you count.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A few guys wander around the corner and make their way towards the door. This happens pretty much all the time, so Nicky doesn't bother with questions. "Sorry, that door's employees only."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"What?" one of them says, and the whole group draws closer. They're not dressed like the usual clubgoers. None of them look drunk, either. They're standing casually, but they're pretty much completely blocking the way to the main street, and the other direction in this alley—</span>
  <em>
    <span>no, side street, stop thinking of it as an alley</span>
  </em>
  <span>—just leads to the employee parking lot. Dead end.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>This whole situation is not good for Nicky's sense of security. Like any relatively skinny gay guy with a sense of self-preservation, he does not like being cornered by a bunch of guys who look like they could give the Eden's bouncers a run for their money.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He takes a deep breath and tries not to panic before he knows if it's necessary or not. They must just be lost. "There's nothing down here," he says. "Just the staff door."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Hm, that's what I thought," one of them says. But he steps even closer, close enough that Nicky can see the veins on his arms.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He's got his hands in his pockets. Nicky does </span>
  <em>
    <span>not</span>
  </em>
  <span> like that. His instincts are basically screaming that something is off here.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>What would Erik do?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Erik would be ready for a fight, but he'd pretend he wasn't. He'd let them come to him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Erik would also be </span>
  <em>
    <span>much</span>
  </em>
  <span> better equipped to beat up four guys his size. He taught Nicky some stuff—wouldn't let him go back to the States without at least kind of knowing how to defend himself—but they'd never gotten to 'how to beat up four guys bigger than you when you're completely unarmed and also wearing skinny jeans.'</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nicky is not getting murdered in an alley. Not on this fine Wednesday night or Thursday morning.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>So he smiles at them and makes sure his knees aren't locked. "Something I can help you with?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Nicholas Hemmick," the one closest to him says.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Fuck.</span>
  </em>
  <span> Nicky doesn't blink. "Sorry, he's still on shift, you'll have to go in through the front." What would Erik do, what would Erik do, what would Erik do?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"He's been sticking his nose where it shouldn't be," one of them says. Nicky doesn't know which one. He's focusing on the only one within arm's reach of him. He can still feel the others' eyes on him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nicky affects an innocent look. "His coworkers' romantic entanglements? Don't see what that has to do with you. Is this a jilted lovers situation?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Enough," the one right in front of him says. Too late, Nicky notices how the others have fanned out around them. There's nowhere for him to go.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Someone has planned this. This is the one (very short) window of the day when Nicky is always out by himself, as part of a routine he's had for years. He's gotten comfortable, but he hardly ever spends more than five minutes waiting here.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Too late, Nicky remembers what Erik had told him about fistfights. They don't actually last very long. Pretty much nobody's got the strength to brawl for more than a minute or two. And that's if they've only got one opponent. Nicky has four.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>So someone has planned this </span>
  <em>
    <span>very</span>
  </em>
  <span> carefully.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The guy in front of him glances at a spot just over Nicky's shoulder.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Guess not, then," he says, and on instinct, he ducks.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A fist swings through the air above him. He glances down. Someone's standing behind him. Nicky stomps on their foot as hard as he can and sidesteps. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Thanks, platform boots</span>
  </em>
  <span>. But that's as far as he gets—someone grabs his arm and wrenches it backward. Sharp pain shoots up to Nicky's shoulder. In the half-second he's distracted, a fist catches him in the jaw. He can feel a heavy ring slice his cheek and cringes at the sting.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Someone's still got his arm. He turns. This guy's got bird tattoos everywhere and a grip like a vice.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nicky spits in his face. Then he steps in and punches the guy's solar plexus with his free hand. His grip loosens. Nicky rams his elbow down onto the guy's forearm as hard as he can. He lets go of Nicky's arm. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>But someone kicks the back of Nicky's knee, hard. He stumbles. There's a hand between his shoulder blades, shoving, and he falls forward. The guy he just got away from yanks him in with an arm around his waist. Nicky feels his arms being dragged behind his back. Something thin and plastic is pulled tight around his wrists.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Zip tie.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>To make things even better, there's a squeal of tires somewhere behind him, and car doors slamming.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Is this a kidnapping? Fucking fantastic.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And where the fuck is Andrew?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There are people speaking—Japanese, Nicky recognizes dully—and he doesn't let himself stop to think.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He bends his knees the tiniest bit. He braces. And he rams his knee into the crotch of the guy holding him as hard as he fucking can.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>More speaking. Shouting, really.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The guy </span>
  <em>
    <span>almost</span>
  </em>
  <span> falls. But his arm is still tight around Nicky's waist. Nicky plants a foot on his shin and pushes off, backward.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He's half expecting another guy to catch him. But instead he lands flat on his ass on the street.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Up ahead, there's a car with its headlights on. It's—</span>
</p><p>
  <span>That's the GS.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And right next to it, holding his own against two guys twice his size, is Andrew.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nicky pushes himself up off the ground. The guy with the bird tattoos looks like he's about to get up too. Nicky stomps on his ankle with the platform boots Andrew pretends to hate and he hears something break.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Good.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He stomps on the guy's other ankle too. Then he follows it up with a kick to the stomach. And then he gets away from the guy before he gets grabbed again. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>By the GS, one of the Moriyamas—because they must be Moriyamas—crumples backward. Their head hits the curb.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nicky doesn't stop to watch. There were four guys. He only sees three. The car headlights glint off of something in Andrew's hand—a knife. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nicky's still zip tied. He hauls ass over to the GS and gets there just as Andrew slashes at the third guy's thigh. It connects. The guy reaches for Andrew's arm, but Nicky hooks a foot around his ankle and pulls. He crashes to the ground.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andrew's wiping his knife off on his armband. The corner of his forehead is bleeding. There's something wild in his eyes, and his movements are a little too controlled and careful. But he looks okay otherwise, and Nicky can tell Andrew's doing the same visual injury pat-down thing that he is.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"We need to get out of here fast," Nicky says.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andrew nods, quick and efficient. "Someone left, maybe for a getaway car or kidnapper van or something. Let's get them out of the street. Driving over people would ruin the suspension on my car."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nicky shrugs as well as he can. "All I can do is kick right now."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Oh." Andrew considers the knife in his hand. "Can I?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nicky turns and presents his wrists as well as he can. He can't see what Andrew does, but a few seconds later the zip tie loosens abruptly and he pushes it off and shakes his hands out.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Which just makes his shoulder hurt more. Ouch.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But there's no time for that right now.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They move the two guys by the car over to the sidewalk as fast as they can, without talking. Neither of them is moving. Nicky doesn't find anything in his heart except relief.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Bird Tattoo Guy has gotten onto his hands and knees, though, and he's crawling toward them. Why, Nicky has no idea. What does he think he's going to accomplish?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nicky's faster than Andrew. He gets right in front of Bird Tattoo Guy and says, "I don't think so."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Then he kicks the guy in the face. Andrew picks him up by the legs. Nicky grabs him by the wrists. He lets the guy's face bang against the curb as they toss him on the sidewalk.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The fourth guy is still nowhere to be seen, and they hurry to the car and get in. Andrew peels away almost before Nicky has his seatbelt on, but now isn't really the time to quibble about road safety.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>So he doesn't. "I </span>
  <em>
    <span>love</span>
  </em>
  <span> these boots. I don't know how easy they'll be to clean, but I don't think there's much blood on them? If they clean up well we should get you a pair too. I broke multiple ankles. Also probably Bird Tattoo Guy's nose."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"The crawling guy?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nicky nods, but Andrew's staring at the road like he's going to beat it into submission, so he says out loud, "Yes."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I saw those. Tacky as fuck."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Right? But they were definitely Moriyamas." Even if those tattoos hadn't been uncomfortably reminiscent of the Edgar Allan Ravens, the Japanese, as well as literally everything else about that interaction, would have tipped him off. "Knew who I was, knew what I was doing at Eden's. They planned that shit, right?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Two of them were waiting for me in the garage. I would say they planned it."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Okay." Nicky sits back and mulls over their course of action for a moment before he feels blood drip from his face onto his chest. "I'm calling Aaron."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andrew glances at him. "</span>
  <em>
    <span>Now?"</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>"Eyes on the road."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"We both know you have no business telling me how to drive," Andrew says, but he puts his eyes back on the road. "We look like shit. He has no idea what's going on. You really want to spring this on him in the middle of the night? It's a fucking Wednesday. He probably has like six exams tomorrow."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nicky ticks his points off on his fingers. "Okay, number one, he had an exam yesterday and he's taking six classes, so he probably can't have more than five tomorrow. Or today, because technically, it is Thursday." Andrew scoffs. "Number two, he's pre-med, we look like shit, and I don't want to go to a hospital. Especially not one around here. Number three, like you said. He has no idea what's going on. We need to get to him before someone else does."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andrew attempts to wipe away a trickle of blood on his temple, but he mostly succeeds in getting it in his hair. Better than his eyes, though. He </span>
  <em>
    <span>is</span>
  </em>
  <span> driving. "Right. Palmetto it is. Call him first."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"On it." Nicky digs his phone out, hits Call, and puts his phone on speaker.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It rings.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And rings.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And rings, and rings, and rings, and goes to voicemail.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Pick the fuck up," Andrew says immediately to the phone.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I'm calling him again." And Nicky does.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>This time, Aaron picks up on the fourth ring. He sounds tired, and irritated, but definitely not groggy. "What?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Buckle up, we're about to go for a wild ride," Nicky tells him. "You're on speaker. We're coming to Palmetto. There's shit going down and we need someone to patch us up. Fair warning, Andrew's head is bleeding and something's wrong with my shoulder."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There's a long silence, and then Aaron says, "Do I want to know what happened?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You're going to," Andrew says. "Not until we get there, though."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nicky nods, even though he knows Aaron can't see him. "Yeah. On that note, you should probably hunker down until we get there. We'll call. Are you in your room?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Aaron sighs loudly on the other end of the line, and then says, "No."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Don't tell me you're at the library. It's past two in the morning."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Jesus, Nicky. Once a father, always a father?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Technically he's still our guardian, we're just legal adults now," Andrew points out.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Don't stay up forever studying," Nicky insists, because Aaron's self-care skills have never been the greatest. "All-nighters are terrible for your brain."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I'm not at the library."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There's a faint voice in the background on Aaron's end, and he must cover his phone when he replies, because the sound gets all mushy.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andrew raises an eyebrow.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Aaron Michael Minyard," Nicky says to the phone. "Are you with a </span>
  <em>
    <span>lady friend?"</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>"Nicky,"</span>
  </em>
  <span> Aaron hisses into the phone. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Well, that's as good as a confession. "Whatever, whatever. I'll interrogate you once we get there. Again, stay where you are until we call you again, and be prepared for us to look like we just walked out of a nasty barroom brawl."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Fine," Aaron says. "Andrew, put pressure on your head wound. If it doesn't stop bleeding in ten minutes, don't bother with me, go directly to the fucking hospital. Bye."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And then he hangs up.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andrew pulls over to the shoulder and takes his jacket off. It's denim, not exactly the softest material, but he wads it up and presses it to his forehead anyway.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Are you going to be able to drive like that?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andrew shrugs. "I don't see any reason why I can't. We're on a freeway. It's a straight line." There's basically nobody on the road, and he steers them back into the center lane one-handed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Well, that was some much-needed levity," Nicky says after a couple of minutes. "Five bucks says he's with Tiffany."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andrew shakes his head. "She's in that seminar he hates. He's too sappy to hate a class he has with a girlfriend or hookup or whatever."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Fuck, you're right. Who do you think, then?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He stares at the road contemplatively for a few moments. "Katelyn."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nicky considers it. "I doubt it. Literally last week he was in his feelings about her being 'too busy' to get coffee."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"That was last week. Maybe she's not busy anymore."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Being too busy is, like, </span>
  <em>
    <span>the</span>
  </em>
  <span> gentle rejection."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Unless she was actually just too busy to get coffee."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You have no sense of subtlety."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andrew shrugs. "Leaves room for ambiguity."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Right. That would make sense.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Well, we'll find out when we get there." Nicky settles back in his seat. His shoulder is throbbing, and he doesn't want to know what his face looks like, and there are still lines on his wrists from the zip tie. But all things considered, he's doing way better than he could be. "I'm gonna call Erik."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"This seems like the kind of thing he should know about, yes." Andrew taps his fingers on the steering wheel. "No phone sex in the car. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Especially</span>
  </em>
  <span> not while I'm trapped in here with you."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Distantly, Nicky wonders how this became their life. "Really? I'm a bit preoccupied at the moment. You know, with the injuries and the attempted kidnapping."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You say that now. I'm familiar with the pattern. Don't forget the thing about the Perfect Court."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Right. Fuck. Thanks."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You completely forgot."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I completely forgot, yes." Erik is the second most recent contact in his text messages, which makes finding him quick. Nicky hits Call. He usually doesn't put calls with Erik on speaker, but this time he does, so Andrew can follow along in real time.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Unlike Aaron, Erik picks up on the third ring. "Schatz! How was your night?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Pretty shit," Nicky says. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He can practically </span>
  <em>
    <span>hear</span>
  </em>
  <span> Erik putting on his 'work face.' "Are you hurt?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Yes. I've got some bruises and something's wrong with my shoulder, but I don't think it's dislocated. Andrew's got some sort of head wound and whatever else he hasn't told me about."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Just bruises and a cut on my arm," Andrew says. "Not serious. I hit my head on the car."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Wait, </span>
  <em>
    <span>really?"</span>
  </em>
  <span> Nicky says.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Yes. Why they would try to give me a concussion if they were planning to kill me anyway, I have no idea."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Okay," Erik says. "Don't sleep until someone can check you, then. Where are you going?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Palmetto. Checking on Aaron and hoping he can fix us up."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Erik doesn't miss a beat. "If you were attacked, then you should catch him up. He's at the point where not knowing may make him more of a liability." There's the sound of typing for a few moments. "Obviously, keep it to the basics, since he's not technically one of us, but I trust your judgment on what to tell him and not tell him. Update me or Alice later on how much he knows."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Okay."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"So what happened?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Moriyamas tried to kidnap Nicky and kill me," Andrew says. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Erik curses on the other end of the line. "How many?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Six people total, four dead or close to it, one with lots of broken bones, one got away. We left them in the side street by Eden's."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"My guess is the one who got away will come back and clean up," Nicky adds. "He left before we'd finished with the others. We didn't stick around."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There's a sigh. Nicky pictures Erik pushing his hair back from his face. He's blond, like Andrew and Aaron, but his hair is golden where theirs is ashy. It's just long enough to reveal waves and effortless in a male-model kind of way. God, he's </span>
  <em>
    <span>so</span>
  </em>
  <span> ready to go back to Germany. "So they might be waiting at your house, then."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>That is exactly the kind of hard truth Nicky really did not want to hear. "Yikes, you're probably right. Good thing that's not where we're going."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You'll need a place to stay. I'm going to call someone I know over there and see if she can set something up for you."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nicky frowns. "A Klose?" Erik had told him the Moriyamas have so much control over the United States that none of the other families have been able to get their people in for years. Well, except for Nicky and Andrew.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"No. Her family is, ah, legitimate. Or as legitimate as anyone that wealthy can be, I suppose." A corner of Andrew's mouth pulls up in his version of a half-smile as Erik keeps talking. "She knows enough about us that I trust her with this, and there's no reason for the Moriyamas to be watching her." More typing. "Will you be okay to make it to Palmetto? I should call her as soon as I can."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"We'll be fine. I'll text you when we get there."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Okay. I'll send you details about where to stay once I get them. Keep your phone on."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I will. I love you."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I love you too. Stay safe."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Erik hangs up, and Andrew says, "You forgot about the Perfect Court thing again."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nicky sighs. "You couldn't have brought that up like five seconds earlier?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"The conversation seemed like it was on a roll."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"And when has that stopped you before?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andrew shrugs, but he's still got that half-smile. It looks a little more intimidating than usual with the dried blood on his face. "Just text him."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nicky huffs at him. "'Just text him,' he says, as if he didn't just let me end the call without saying a word about it."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Nicky:</b>
  <span> totally forgot smth unrelated</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Nicky:</b>
  <span> kevin day walked out on his contract w baltimore</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Nicky:</b>
  <span> no word about riko moriyama or jean moreau</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Erik&lt;3 liked a message.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"How far are we from Palmetto?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Still like an hour to go."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Even with the way you're driving?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andrew rolls his eyes. "It would be fairly cruel irony to escape hitmen and then die in a car accident of all things. Also, I'm driving one-handed."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"That's a very poetic way of avoiding my question." Not that Nicky </span>
  <em>
    <span>wants</span>
  </em>
  <span> to get into a discussion of car accidents. They usually save those kinds of topics for when they're both ready for some serious emotional labor.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"An hour."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"'Kay. I'm gonna put on some music."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nicky's used to going home late at night, but normally they just stay awake long enough to get back to the house and update Erik. The exhaustion from the fight is already starting to creep into his muscles, and he cannot wait to be able to take his shoes off. They were handy in the fight, but they're going to feel like weights strapped to his feet when he gets out of the car. And then they'll have to talk to Aaron, wait for Erik to tell them where they're sleeping for the night, and then find their way there. It might even be dawn by the time Nicky actually gets to sleep, and he can't afford to crash before then.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>So he puts on his running playlist, and Andrew possibly sighs but doesn't comment, and they drive to Palmetto listening to the most upbeat bops Nicky has in his library. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>About half an hour later, Andrew lets his jacket fall into his lap. "Am I still bleeding?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nicky flicks on the overhead light and takes a look. It's not pretty, but he can only see dried blood. "Nope. That's good."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"More stitches weren't on my bucket list."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"What about your arm?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andrew shrugs. "I dodged. He barely got me through the jacket. What about your face?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"The guy who punched me just had some kind of ring on. I'm sure it's fine."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>For fleeing an attempted murder/kidnapping, it's surprisingly peaceful. Highways turn into city streets, which eventually turn into the loop around the PSU campus, and Andrew drives aimlessly through the loop as Nicky pauses the music and calls Aaron.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Hey," Aaron says. "You here?" He sounds a lot less disgruntled than he did the first time they called.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Yeah. Where are you? I'm assuming you're not in your dorm."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Fox Tower. It's the athletes' building."</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Katelyn,</span>
  </em>
  <span> Andrew mouths at Nicky as he changes course for Fox Tower. Damn. He was right. As they've heard from Aaron about sixty thousand times, Katelyn's a cheerleader. Roughly thirty thousand of those times occurred this year when Aaron informed them that she was voted captain of the squad. In hindsight, Nicky's initial guess of Tiffany was way off base, but he's just been through an emotionally traumatizing experience so he's going to give himself a break on that one.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Is there somewhere we can talk in there, or do we need to go to your dorm?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Katelyn's got a single."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nicky glances over at Andrew, who shrugs. They can figure out some outsider-friendly version of events to tell Aaron if Katelyn's around and fill in the rest later, and he doesn't want to amble around PSU's campus at almost four in the morning any more than he has to. "Sounds good. Is she there?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Yeah, I told her you look like hell."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They pull into the parking lot outside Fox Tower. "Wow. We're making great first impressions."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"We're looking for a parking space," Andrew says.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Okay. We'll be down in a minute. Try not to make complete asses of yourselves."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Oh, I won't." Nicky grins. "No promises for Andrew, though."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He can almost </span>
  <em>
    <span>hear</span>
  </em>
  <span> Aaron's eyeroll. "We're coming downstairs. See you in a bit." He punctuates that by hanging up.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andrew pulls into a parking space with maybe a bit more vigor than necessary and cuts the engine. They sit there in the silence for a moment before getting out of the car.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The lobby of Fox Tower is lit up despite the hour, and there are two people silhouetted in the light. Nicky starts walking and ignores how tired his legs have suddenly become. Apparently driving the sole of your boot repeatedly into someone's ankles is tiring. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Aaron's standing just inside the glass door to the lobby with a girl slightly taller than him who must be Katelyn. She's got red hair pulled into a loose bun on top of her head and a ridiculous number of freckles. They're both dressed in sweats and T-shirts, which is a lovely contrast to Nicky and Andrew's all-black, vaguely emo outfits—Nicky because he was going for a look tonight, Andrew because that's just how he dresses in general. One has to wonder if Roland is quietly in the midst of a decade-late scene phase and that's why he's so into him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nicky sees the exact moment that he and Andrew get close enough for Aaron and Katelyn to see what they look like, because Aaron visibly sighs and Katelyn's eyebrows lift up almost to her hairline. Other than that, though, she doesn't look fazed. That's good, if they're going to be taking over her room.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Aaron pushes the door open and says, "So you weren't kidding about the barroom brawl."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Technically, we were outside the bar," Nicky says as they step inside and Aaron lets the door swing closed behind them. "But yeah. Hi," he adds to Katelyn.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Hi," she replies. "Nice to meet you, I guess? Weird circumstances for it. I'm Katelyn."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I know," Nicky says, and Aaron gives him a capital-L Look. "Aaron said we're invading your room. Thanks for that." Aaron visibly relaxes. "I'm Nicky. That's Andrew."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I know," Katelyn parrots with a smile, and she leads the way to the stairs. "I've got a pretty well-stocked first aid kit, so it's probably good Aaron was here when you called."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You're pre-med too, right?" Nicky valiantly does not groan about climbing stairs.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Sports med, technically, but I've been dealing with injuries basically since I started cheer. My friends all know to come to me if they get hurt. That's how I decided on a major, actually. Lots of field experience."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nicky's phone buzzes.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Erik&lt;3:</b>
  <span> Allison has a place near Palmetto. she'll be there in like 4 hours to let you in. can I give her your number</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Nicky:</b>
  <span> yeah totally</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Nicky:</b>
  <span> we just met up w aaron</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Nicky:</b>
  <span> for a long list of reasons we r being patched up by this cheerleader hes semi-dating</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Nicky:</b>
  <span> so we shall see how much we can actually tell him w her around</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Erik&lt;3:</b>
  <span> Okay keep me posted</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Erik&lt;3:</b>
  <span> Allison will contact you when the house is ready</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Here we are," Katelyn says when they get to the second floor. "My room's toward the end of the hall."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She unlocks the door and turns the light on to reveal a room that looks... well, like a normal college dorm room, Nicky imagines. There's a desk with a massive bag of kettle corn on it, a bookshelf that's half books and half a jumbled mess of makeup and hair products, and a floral comforter on the twin bed that's almost obscured by a spread of textbooks, notebooks, highlighters, and two laptops.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Study date. At three in the morning. Cute.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Katelyn ushers them inside, shuts the door, and says, "Okay. We're gonna have to clean that head wound, like, immediately. I can do it, or there's a mirror on the back of my door if you want to do it yourself." She drags a first aid kit the size of a small child out from under her bed and pulls out towelettes and rubbing alcohol. Andrew takes them wordlessly and turns to the mirror, sitting on the floor and putting the supplies down next to him. Katelyn doesn't blink. "Cool. So what's up with your shoulder?" she asks Nicky.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"No idea," he says honestly. "I don't think it's dislocated. Someone just grabbed my arm really hard and kind of... twisted it, I guess?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Huh." She moves some notebooks off the bed onto the floor. "Can you sit? Sorry, you're just really tall."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Trust me, he knows," Aaron says.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nicky nods and sits down on the bed. "You don't live with Andrew and Aaron for a few years without realizing exactly how tall you are."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Wow." Katelyn frowns at his shoulder. "Can you take your jacket off?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The pain in his shoulder has settled into a dull ache, but twisting to take his jacket off is </span>
  <em>
    <span>not</span>
  </em>
  <span> pleasant. Something must show on his face, because her frown deepens a bit, but he gets the jacket off pretty easily. She walks him through a series of arm movements, which hurt, but he's able to do them all.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Katelyn taps a pink and purple fingernail against her chin for a moment and then says, "I </span>
  <em>
    <span>think</span>
  </em>
  <span> it'll be fine with just a sling. I've got one of those from when I got dropped this one time in sophomore year—" she digs around in her first aid kit for a moment before resurfacing with a sling— "so you're lucky. You should probably get it checked out by a professional, though. Like, I don't think it's dislocated either, but they'd be able to tell you if something's sprained or fractured or anything."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Yeah, is there a reason you're not at the hospital?" Aaron says.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"We gave worse than we got," Andrew says without looking away from the mirror. He's moved on to cleaning the cut on his arm. His face is relatively blood-free now, and Nicky can barely even see a cut under the impressive bruise at the corner of his forehead. Yeah, they are going to a doctor. As soon as they can do it with reasonable certainty that they won't get murdered in the waiting room.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Didn't want to run into any of them," Nicky semi-lies. "And we didn't know what hospital they'd go to, so we wanted to get out of the area entirely. Plus, do we need an excuse to visit our favorite college student?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"At after three in the morning? Yes."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Rude. But yeah, some guys attacked right as we left Eden's. I don't know if they were drunk or what. I'd never seen them before in my life. We don't really know anything else." Katelyn's occupied with getting the strap on the sling to the right length, so Nicky takes the opportunity to wink at Aaron, who raises his eyebrows but doesn't push. Hopefully he understands that means 'there's more, we'll tell you later.' </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"That's horrible," Katelyn says. "I'm glad you got rid of them."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Like I said," Andrew says. There's something carefully intent in his voice. Nicky's not quite sure what. "We gave worse than we got."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She shrugs. "Sounds like they deserved it."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nicky catches Andrew's eye in the mirror, and Andrew nods slightly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ah. So that was a test.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He desperately wants to tell Andrew that 'bloodthirsty' is not a trait they should be angling for in Aaron's girlfriends, and in fact Aaron should probably be the one responsible for vetting his own significant others, but now isn't really the time.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And the window of opportunity ends, anyway, because Katelyn keeps talking as she helps Nicky put the sling on. "I've been taking these self-defense classes downtown for a couple years now? And our instructor is super big on that. She's always telling us that if we're in danger and we stop to wonder about whether we're going too far in defending ourselves, we're going to get hurt even worse. You don't stop until you're safe. So, like </span>
  <em>
    <span>I</span>
  </em>
  <span> said, I'm glad you got rid of them. Are you done with that?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Aaron could not physically look more in love if he tried.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andrew hands Katelyn the rubbing alcohol and the towelettes. She sits down next to Nicky. "Okay, that cut's kind of close to your eye so I'm not going to let you clean that up yourself. Especially with a sling. Aaron, can you check if Andrew's arm can be bandaged? I don't have sutures. If you need to go to the hospital, it should be sooner rather than later."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Yep," Aaron says, sitting down on the floor next to Andrew.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Hold still," Katelyn instructs Nicky. "I'm gonna see if I can get it clean without rubbing alcohol, but I'll warn you if I can't."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Much appreciated."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The towelette is cold on his face, and Katelyn cleans up the cut with calm efficiency, although she does press down on the bruise at one point. Nicky must flinch a little bit, because Katelyn says, "Sorry! Almost done." She dabs in a couple more places, surveys his face, and says, "Butterfly stitches. I have those."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Thought you didn't have sutures," Nicky says.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Butterfly stitches are basically fancy Band-Aids for small cuts. I have </span>
  <em>
    <span>lots.</span>
  </em>
  <span>" She grins and pulls out a pack of what do, indeed, look like fancy Band-Aids.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I can bandage it," Aaron announces. "The arm, at least."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Cool." Katelyn applies the butterfly stitches to Nicky's cheek and sits back. "Okay, you should be fine for now. If your shoulder's still hurting—not like it's kind of sore, like it's actually in pain—when you wake up tomorrow, go to a doctor."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Okay. Thanks. Sorry for turning up at your dorm in the middle of the night and demanding that you fix us."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Katelyn shrugs. "It's not the first time, although it </span>
  <em>
    <span>is</span>
  </em>
  <span> usually other Vixens. And we were awake anyway." She looks ruefully at the pile of notebooks. "I'm sure that's obvious. Kettle corn?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Now that she mentions it, Nicky is starting to get hungry. "That would be awesome."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Katelyn grabs the bag of kettle corn from her desk and props it upright between them. "I buy these in bulk so don't be shy."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Aaron finishes bandaging Andrew's arm and puts the roll of bandages back in the first aid kit. "Do you have a headache?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andrew stares at him. "Stunningly reasoned question. What do you think?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Aaron stares back with a scowl. Nicky is always impressed by their stubborn, antagonistic way of caring about each other. It's so... unnecessarily dramatic. "It's a symptom of a concussion."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I hit my head on a car. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Yes,</span>
  </em>
  <span> I have a headache." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Out of the corner of his eye, Nicky sees Katelyn frown. If she jumps back in with another comment about how their attackers deserved what they got, Andrew might actually respond positively, and then Nicky </span>
  <em>
    <span>will</span>
  </em>
  <span> have to remind Andrew that perhaps he shouldn't be encouraging Aaron to find a pro-violence girlfriend, even if it's a step up from how he treated that girl Aaron liked in high school.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Then again, if the Moriyamas come knocking...</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Actually, that's not something Nicky wants to think about right now. He'll talk to Erik about it later.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Are your ears ringing?" Aaron continues.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ah, there's Andrew's scowl to match Aaron's. "Yes."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Well. That's not good. Nausea?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"No."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Vomiting?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andrew raises an eyebrow.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Aaron sighs. "Look, I wasn't in the car with you for the hour and a half between Nicky calling me and you getting here." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Nicky would have complained."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Which is, unfortunately, true.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Aaron knows it, too. "Okay, you have a point. Fatigue?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I just had a full work shift and got into a fistfight."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"This would be a lot easier if you would just answer the questions, you know. But I'll take that as a yes for fatigue. Blurry vision?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andrew hesitates. "Not really."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Aaron sighs.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nicky's not too pleased either. "</span>
  <em>
    <span>Andrew.</span>
  </em>
  <span> I could have driven us here. Actually, I should have driven us here. I don't know why I let you drive. Oh wait, it was because you said that you bleeding from the head 'wasn't serious.' Tell me when you're hurt, for fuck's sake." He holds his good hand out. "Car keys."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andrew takes them out of his pocket with an impressive glare and tosses them on the floor. Of course. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Aaron grabs them and tosses them directly into Nicky's lap without looking away from Andrew. "Have you been forgetting things?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Another raised eyebrow from Andrew.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Aaron huffs. "I </span>
  <em>
    <span>know</span>
  </em>
  <span>. It's on the list of symptoms, which I am going through in a methodical and thorough way, because I genuinely want to figure out if you have a concussion. So you haven't felt forgetful? Or confused?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"He remembered the whole route here with no trouble," Nicky offers. "And he reminded me of some things I forgot."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"See, Nicky's helpful," Aaron tells Andrew, who looks characteristically unimpressed. Katelyn looks like she's stifling a smile. "Irritability? No, I can answer that for myself. Unusual irritability?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andrew scowls and Aaron immediately scowls back. It looks almost automatic. Sometimes they act so much like each other that Nicky forgets they weren't raised together.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I'm going to take that as a yes," Aaron says.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andrew rolls his eyes. "I think I have quite a few reasons to be annoyed at my current state, thank you for your concern."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"This entire process you've been trying to derail is a product of my concern. Have you been feeling dizzy?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andrew opens his mouth, then shuts it, then says grudgingly, "I assumed it was because of blood loss."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nicky sighs, but he lets it go for the moment. At least Andrew's cooperating now. And the way things are going, Nicky would not be surprised if he has to corral Andrew into going to see a doctor tomorrow. That'll be much easier if he hasn't recently pissed him off by reading him the riot act about taking his health more seriously. No matter how much he wants to.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Aaron, meanwhile, is frowning. "Maybe it is, but still, you didn't mention it?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I made it up the stairs without any incidents, didn't I?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Aaron doesn't dignify that with a response. (Although it is true.) "Open your eyes wider, I need to check your pupils."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andrew complies, and Aaron looks closely for a moment before saying, "They look normal. You've got some symptoms of a concussion, but you're coherent and able to walk around without help, and as you pleasantly pointed out, some of them might be because of other things, so I can't be completely sure. You'll be okay to sleep, though. Just don't look at bright screens too much, for the love of God let Nicky drive, and if your ears don't stop ringing soon, then you should do a joint doctor visit since he's got that shoulder thing."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Fantastic," Nicky says, since Andrew is tired enough to let himself look fundamentally displeased with this state of events. "I love joint doctor visits. What time is it?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Katelyn glances at her phone. "About four."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Great. They have at least a few more hours to kill before Allison, whoever that is, is supposed to contact him. And now that they've systematically gone through all of Andrew and Nicky's injuries, there's no good excuse to stay here longer.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Whatever. They can just find a parking lot somewhere and hang out. If they impose on Katelyn much longer, then Nicky is going to have to start answering some questions. Which he does not want to do at the moment.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Okay," he says cheerfully. "Well, we should probably get home and get some rest. Thanks again for helping us out."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andrew stands, and Aaron does too. "I'll walk you to the lobby."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Oh, good. He caught on to the wink earlier.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I seriously recommend going to a doctor," Katelyn says. "I </span>
  <em>
    <span>think</span>
  </em>
  <span> you'll be fine, but it's always better to be sure."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Yeah. Makes sense. We'll try to go tomorrow. Or today, I guess."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Great." She sticks her hand out, and Nicky shakes it. "It was nice meeting you! Hopefully next time will be under better circumstances."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nicky scoops up his jacket from where it's sitting on the bed. "I </span>
  <em>
    <span>firmly</span>
  </em>
  <span> agree. Have a good night."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Aaron ushers Nicky and Andrew out of Katelyn's room, shuts the door behind them, and waits until they're almost to the stairs before asking, "So, what actually happened?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nicky sighs. "When we said we would tell you once we got here, I was imagining having more time than this. I'll give you the bare-bones version now, and we can talk more tomorrow when you don't desperately need to sleep."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They enter the stairwell, and Andrew shuts the door behind them. They start descending back down to the ground floor as he switches the conversation to German. "Erik's the heir to an international organized crime family based in Germany, Nicky's marrying in, and I also happen to be working for them. Columbia's smack in the middle of a rival family's territory. We've been pretending not to have anything to do with the Kloses so we can gather information on the Moriyamas through Eden's and pass it back to Erik. They found us out and sent a bunch of thugs after us tonight. Tried to kidnap Nicky, tried to kill me. Obviously, they failed."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nicky's so occupied with listening to this little speech that he fails to notice that they've left Aaron on the last landing until he says from behind them, "What the </span>
  <em>
    <span>fuck?"</span>
  </em>
  
</p><p>
  <span>"So that's why we didn't want to go to a hospital," Nicky explains. "Didn't feel like providing identification anywhere that could leave a trail. Also, we wanted to make sure you're okay."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I'm... I'm fine," Aaron says, and he slowly starts to walk again. "Is that why you told me to stay with Katelyn?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Sure is." Nicky considers it. "So, actually, Andrew's kind of covered it. At least one of the Moriyamas got away—"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Wait. Moriyamas like Riko Moriyama?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Oh, yeah, they're yakuza, he's involved too, but we </span>
  <em>
    <span>really</span>
  </em>
  <span> don't have time to get into that tonight. Anyway. Since at least one of them got away, we're not going home tonight. Erik's sorted out some kind of safe house."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Aaron blinks a few times. "How long have you been..."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Professional criminals?" Andrew supplies.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I've been doing this since I came back to the US. Andrew joined after finishing high school." Nicky doesn't add that the Kloses are basically paying Aaron's tuition. That's detail he probably doesn't need, considering all the other stuff he is learning at the moment.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Speaking of which, Aaron looks kind of like the axis of the world has tipped under his feet, so Nicky stops where he is. "How's your brain doing with this new information?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Not great," Aaron says bluntly. "I'm going to go study with Katelyn and not think about this until tomorrow."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Sounds like a good plan, honestly." Nicky pushes the door of the stairwell open and they walk into the lobby of Fox Tower. "Try not to go places alone until Erik's got some sort of safety plan in place for us. And call us anytime."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Aaron looks a bit pale. "Yeah, okay. Keep me updated on how you're doing."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andrew nods and heads for the glass doors. Nicky pauses for a moment. "Take a breather before you go back," he advises. "And don't pull an all-nighter."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Aaron manages half a smile. "It's bad for my brain, I know."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Got it in one. Sleep well."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I won't. Thanks anyway."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Aaron takes a deep breath and starts back up the stairs, and Nicky catches up to where Andrew's waiting by the door.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"That went well," Nicky says in English as they step outside. There's a bit of a breeze that makes Nicky very irritated that he had to take off his jacket. "No shouting, no crying, no stitches, and </span>
  <em>
    <span>possibly</span>
  </em>
  <span> no concussion. What did you think of Katelyn?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Competent," Andrew says as they approach the GS. "Noisy."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You liked her." Nicky unlocks the car.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Competent," Andrew repeats as he goes around the car and opens the passenger side door. "And yet, noisy."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"That's a glowing commendation coming from you." Nicky sits in the driver's seat and adjusts the seat as far back as he can.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andrew gets in as well. He's not pouting at the passenger seat, but he might as well be. "Well, what did you think, then?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I like her. If I'd thought of some way to convince her to stick to Aaron like glue for the next few days, I would have done it."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"She'll probably do it anyway."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Anyone who's </span>
  <em>
    <span>studying</span>
  </em>
  <span> of all things at three in the morning and drops what they're doing to help their study date's family recover from an extremely sketchy, poorly explained scenario has to be committed. "That's what I think too."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Where are we going?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Oh." Nicky checks his phone, but there aren't any notifications. Not that he really expected any. "Well, it should be a couple of hours until this Allison person can get us into the safe house, so let's just find a parking lot somewhere around here and wait." He turns the engine on. "Tell me if you see something."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Driving one-handed takes more concentration than he's used to, so Nicky takes it slow on the way out of PSU. The road is empty, anyway, and it's not like they have anywhere to be in a hurry.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I'm gonna try downtown," Nicky says out loud. "I'm not sure exactly where this safe house is, but Erik told me it was near Palmetto so I don't want to go too far."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He can see Andrew nod in his peripheral vision.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You're gonna have to contribute to this conversation too. I don't want you to fall asleep in the car."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andrew looks out the window. It's dark as fuck, of course, but maybe he's just doing it to turn his face away. "It's only four. I'm usually up later than this."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You told Aaron you were tired."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"That has nothing to do with whether I'll fall asleep."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nicky considers that. Andrew's nightmares are a poorly-kept secret in their house. He pretends not to have them, and Nicky pretends to believe him, just like he pretends not to notice when he wakes up at a respectable time of noon and Andrew doesn't leave his room until well after four PM. He's fairly sure Andrew is halfway to being completely nocturnal, and he has no idea if Andrew gets enough food on the days he stays up until dawn and then sleeps until dinner, but somehow, it keeps falling into the category of 'things to bring up later.' "Well. Normally that would worry me, but in this case, good. I wasn't looking forward to having to wake you up when we get to the house."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"No, I can imagine how that would not be enjoyable for either of us."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They get to the main street of downtown Palmetto and drive in silence for a little bit before Andrew says, "Parking lot."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nicky pulls in. It's nearly empty, so he takes the first space he sees. There are streetlights scattered throughout the lot, casting an orange glow into the car. Nicky can almost pretend it's some kind of demented sunlight. Andrew's jacket is wadded up in his lap, and he looks stoic, which reminds Nicky—</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"So what do you want to do about Roland?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Not deal with it, honestly." That's the best thing about Andrew—he never fails to follow Nicky's conversational jumps, even when probably-concussed and exhausted. "This might be a good excuse to not go back to work for a while, anyway."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"That is an excellent point. Erik will probably agree."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Sensible man."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nicky hides a grin. Andrew had </span>
  <em>
    <span>not</span>
  </em>
  <span> been very keen on Erik the first time they'd met, and Nicky tracks changes in Andrew's opinion like he's looking for a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. 'Sensible' is a big step up from... whatever Andrew had thought at first. Although he'd suspected that Andrew wouldn't have joined the Kloses so quickly if he still disliked Erik, it's always nice to get confirmation.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Speaking of which. "I'm gonna let him know we're not dying."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Nicky:</b>
  <span> just left aaron, told him to avoid going around alone until we have some kind of safety plan</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Nicky:</b>
  <span> kinda gave him the cliff notes on who u are and what happened, no specifics, just who the kloses and moriyamas r and what andrew and i have been doing here</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Erik&lt;3:</b>
  <span> Sounds good</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Erik&lt;3:</b>
  <span> How are you</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Nicky:</b>
  <span> better than andrew</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Nicky:</b>
  <span> he might have a concussion</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Nicky:</b>
  <span> so i am no longer letting him drive</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Nicky:</b>
  <span> we shld probably go see a doctor relatively soon but its not an emergency aaron said andrew is ok to sleep</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Nicky:</b>
  <span> katelyn strongly hinted i shld get my shoulder x rayed just in case</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Nicky:</b>
  <span> (katelyn=cheerleader)</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Nicky:</b>
  <span> but she said it didnt look dislocated or anything to her</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Erik&lt;3:</b>
  <span> Okay that's good</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Erik&lt;3:</b>
  <span> I assume Allison hasn't gotten in touch</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Nicky:</b>
  <span> nope not yet</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Erik&lt;3:</b>
  <span> She's probably still in the air</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Erik&lt;3:</b>
  <span> I know she has in flight wifi but she might also be taking the opportunity to sleep</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Nicky:</b>
  <span> is allison flying here to unlock her house for us?????????????</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Erik&lt;3:</b>
  <span> Yes</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Nicky:</b>
  <span> from where??????</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Erik&lt;3:</b>
  <span> LA</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Nicky:</b>
  <span> WHAT</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nicky hits Call, and Erik picks up within moments. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He sounds like he's smiling, and also like he expected this. "Her ability to drop whatever she's doing and get to an airport within an hour is wasted on that family. Her parents won't like her vanishing to South Carolina in the middle of the night, so she's all for it."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"So she's on a cross-continental flight in the middle of the night to get us to a safe house on a whim, basically," Nicky says.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He's pretty sure Andrew's eyes were closed, but they open so fast that maybe it was just a prolonged blink. "That's commitment. Especially for someone who's not actually part of the organization."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Erik says she's doing it to piss off her parents," Nicky tells him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Ah. That makes sense, then."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nicky restrains the obvious comment to be made about Andrew pissing off parents, but judging by the look he gets, Andrew knows exactly what he's thinking. Whatever.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"And you haven't recruited her for some reason?" he says to Erik.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There's a hint of a laugh in Erik's voice. "Hm, that might be enough to make her parents stop overlooking our less than legal practices. The line for them seems to be 'as long as it doesn't affect us.' Recruiting their only child probably counts as affecting them."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"That sucks."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Yeah." There's a pause on the other end of the line. "We're trying to schedule a family meeting to figure out what to do next. Can you do about four hours from now?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Yeah, I have no plans except sleeping and figuring out going to the doctor."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Senna is vetting doctors near Palmetto for you right now. She'll send over some options in a bit."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Senna's been the Kloses' best technology geek for almost as long as Nicky has known her—she'd found her way to them a couple of years out of college, back when Nicky was still in Germany, and climbed the ranks incredibly fast. "Tell Senna I love her."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Erik says something muffled, and then he says, "She says she knows. The meeting will be at 8:30 your time. We're keeping it small for now."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Should Andrew be there?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andrew looks over at the sound of his name.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Yes, if he can," Erik says.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nicky nods. "Okay. What about Allison?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Ah, no. But she knows that already, so you can just let her know when to go do something else." There's more muffled noise on the other end of the line, and Nicky just barely hears Erik tell someone to stop it before a new voice comes on. "Nicky! Hi! Erik, tu—" There's a brief pause before Alice Klose's bright voice returns. "Erik is pouting. Very unflattering. We have to go meet with our security team so I have to take him away from you for now."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Hi to you too," Nicky says. Damn, he has not seen Alice in </span>
  <em>
    <span>forever.</span>
  </em>
  <span> She's almost completely gotten rid of her German accent in English somehow, but it's been six years. That's a lot of time. The last time they were in the same country, she couldn't even drink legally. Maybe a two-year age difference is too small for him to be waxing poetic about how much she's grown, but fuck it, he's doing it anyway. It's </span>
  <em>
    <span>way</span>
  </em>
  <span> too weird to hear Alice talking with a near-flawless English accent. "It's okay, security's kind of important."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I agree," Alice says cheerfully. Nicky can hear high heels clicking against the floor. "So does Erik, even if he doesn't feel like admitting it at the moment."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Can I say bye to him before you whisk him off?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Gross." Nicky fervently hopes Alice is wrinkling her nose in that very little-sister way. She did it all the time as a teenager. "Okay. See you later today!"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There's a rustle, and then Erik says drily, "Alice is kidnapping me."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nicky can't help a smile. "So I've heard."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"We'll try to figure something out for Aaron, and then talk to you and Andrew about options for you both later today. Text me when you're safe with Allison, okay?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I will, but that probably won't be for—" Nicky checks the clock on the dash. "A couple of hours at least."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Well, who knows how long this meeting will take. We're trying to figure out if any of our allies can get a security team into the US for you." Erik sighs. "The answer will almost definitely be no, but we'll exhaust all our options anyway."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I appreciate the effort."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Yes, well, some clever people have pointed out—"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I did," Alice's voice says, barely audible.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"</span>
  <em>
    <span>Alice</span>
  </em>
  <span> pointed out that they probably tried to kidnap you and not Andrew because you would be very useful to them alive. And we're not letting that happen." There are other voices on the end of the line. "I'm sorry, I have to go."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nicky holds back a sigh. "Yeah. Go to your meeting. I'll keep you posted on what's going on here."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I love you."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I love you too. Talk to you soon."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He hangs up, makes sure his phone's on low battery mode (it's not disastrously low, but better safe than sorry), and lets the sigh out. It's funny how they always have the least time together in emergencies. Erik gets pulled in one direction, Nicky gets pulled in another, or vice versa (the whole reason he's on this side of the Atlantic is because of one of those emergencies, after all), and now Nicky can't even blow Erik's phone up with texts because he needs to conserve his battery.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Every so often, Nicky feels like he's getting used to missing Erik, and then he always feels horrible for a few days. But right now he doesn't feel used to it at all. He wants to go home to Germany and </span>
  <em>
    <span>finally</span>
  </em>
  <span> get married and stop wondering about time zone differences because they wake up together. He wants to become an official part of the Klose family. He wants a real hug, one where he can bury his face in Erik's neck and stay there for at least ten minutes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But he also wants—no, he </span>
  <em>
    <span>needs</span>
  </em>
  <span> Andrew and Aaron to be safe and okay before he leaves.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Maybe he should have tried to convince Aaron to go abroad for college, but he's pretty sure none of them expected this version of events. As in, the Moriyamas fucking everything up because they </span>
  <em>
    <span>somehow</span>
  </em>
  <span> found out about Nicky and Andrew. But Nicky hadn't just wanted to completely leave the family for years. If he had to be in the United States, he had wanted to take advantage of it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>If he'd known, would he make that choice again?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yes. Absolutely.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Aaron is okay and relatively happy and doing what he wants to be doing, or at least he was yesterday before everything went sideways. Andrew is functioning and gets out of bed without Nicky having to make him, and if Nicky hadn't come back, then he never would have started working for the family. And they're both so, so much better than they were in high school. Nicky wouldn't give that up.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>If the Moriyamas think they can make him, they've got a big storm coming.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>That's probably a dangerous challenge to make, even in his own head, when he and Andrew are all but isolated from any help from home. But dangerous decisions are kind of Nicky's specialty. Between falling in love with Erik and diving headfirst into Moriyama territory in order to adopt some fairly difficult teenagers, he's on a roll. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andrew's resting his head against the window with his eyes closed. Nicky can never be completely sure whether he's sleeping or not, but his hands are relaxed and he's got his back half turned. He would never have let himself do that a few years ago.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yeah. The thing about Nicky's dangerous decisions? They've always turned out well.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Maybe it's time to make some more.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He'll start with accepting a place to stay with some rich Californian he's never laid eyes on before in his life. And then, he's going to start thinking about payback.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>WOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!</p><p>okay, i have no idea how frequent updates will be on this because i'm juggling multiple writing projects and also college, but right now i feel like i'm really on a roll so hopefully i'll be able to establish some sort of schedule.</p><p>i hope you enjoy!! next chapter: some new faces :)</p><p>and my aftg blog is @deus-ex-knoxina, hit me up there to yell at me and/or whatever else you feel like!<br/>-birl&lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>extremely brief mention of conversion therapy (skip from 'He takes satisfaction where he can get it' to 'His phone buzzes')</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The time passes incredibly, </span>
  <em>
    <span>incredibly</span>
  </em>
  <span> slowly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nicky can't tell if it helps or not that he's trying not to check his phone too much. He can still see the time by looking at the dash of the car, but he's not turning his phone on all of the time to check for notifications that he knows aren't there. Just every once in a while to make sure it still has juice.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He unlaces his boots but doesn't take them off, and he prods at his shoulder tentatively to see if it'll hurt again (it does), and he stares out the window at the orange streetlights and the empty parking lot. He tries to play I Spy with himself. It doesn't work. He tries to find the stars in the sky, but the glow from the lamps and the lights that are still on in the downtown area and the PSU campus block most of them out. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>And throughout all of this, Andrew doesn't move. He must really be sleeping. Nicky doesn't wake him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When the dashboard clock reads 6:45AM, Nicky decides to chance it and check his phone again. He's at 58 percent, which is quite respectable considering how long it's been since it was plugged in. Still no notifications. But it's so quiet in the car that he's pretty sure even the sound of his phone vibrating against his jeans will sound as loud as a gunshot by comparison.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He turns the screen off again and goes back to staring out the window. The sky is starting to lighten—maybe they've officially reached 'pre-dawn.' There's a little over an hour and a half until the Klose family meeting, and he's predicting right now that he will not get a wink of sleep before then. Oh, well. Better to just stay up and pass out after than be groggy for the meeting. He'll pull an Andrew and be nocturnal. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Maybe there's some universal rule that only one of them can sleep at a time. That would explain a lot. It's convenient for now, when Nicky has to be awake because he's the only one allowed to look at screens, and Andrew can take over the informal watch later. But it might become an issue if they ever wind up working day jobs.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nicky could probably avoid that forever if he wanted—and it's so weird to think that 'trophy husband' is actually a viable career choice for him now—but weirdly enough, he does actually want to work for the Kloses. Maybe because it's a family business, no matter how large and illegal. Because they welcomed him in with open arms, and if he's going to be a Klose, he wants to be a proper one.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He never quite managed to be a proper Hemmick, anyway. So he might as well leave that behind entirely.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Although he probably cut himself off pretty well when he texted his parents that picture of himself at Pride. The middle fingers were quite a finishing touch. It's still the last message in their long-dead family group chat.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It's fine, though. He's been getting used to his parents hating him for at least ten years by now. Philipp and Mina are the kind of parents he dreamed of as a little kid, fun and generous and openly loving (and mobsters, but that doesn't matter), and as soon as he figures out how to keep Aaron safe after he goes back to Germany, he'll be set for life. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>His parents would hate the idea of him being happily married. Maybe he should text them another picture on the wedding day. They can pick an obscenely expensive venue just to make Nicky's father splutter about how God rewards the righteous with prosperity, or some such shit, and therefore something sketchy and/or sinful must be going on. The Kloses aren't that righteous, but at least they're upfront about it, compared to Luther and Maria Hemmick.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It's probably not super healthy to keep sending them aggressively homosexual photos of himself. Somewhere, dim in the back of Nicky's mind, he's pretty sure this means he has not moved on from that stage of his life at all.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They always used to have lemon cake on special occasions. Nicky doesn't even know at this point if it was his mother's favorite or his father's. But that doesn't matter, not when he can send some rude comment about how he's choosing cake flavors (for his extremely homosexual and expensive wedding) and it's a pity they're such horrible people because otherwise he might consider lemon. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It'll probably only feel satisfying for a moment or two. But a moment is a moment. He takes satisfaction where he can get it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And he wouldn't consider lemon cake, anyway. Or lemon anything. The smell makes his stomach hurt now. It has ever since he came back from conversion therapy 'straight.'</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was a special occasion.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His phone buzzes, Andrew shoots upright in the passenger seat, and for one fevered moment Nicky is absolutely, irrationally positive it's a text from his parents.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Then he checks the screen. It's not.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Unknown Number:</b>
  <span> this is allison</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Unknown Number:</b>
  <span> nicky right</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Nicky:</b>
  <span> yep thats me</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Nicky:</b>
  <span> thank u so much for this</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"It's Allison," he says out loud.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Does Allison have a last name?" Andrew says.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Why, are you planning to do a background check? First of all, no screens for you, and second of all, Senna </span>
  <em>
    <span>definitely</span>
  </em>
  <span> already did one. Probably several."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andrew just looks at him. Nicky sighs and goes back to his phone.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Nicky:</b>
  <span> my cousin wants to know if u have a last name</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Nicky:</b>
  <span> hes naturally sus of everyone dont take it personally</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Allison:</b>
  <span> hmm</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Allison:</b>
  <span> reynolds</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Allison:</b>
  <span> i'm texting u the address, not sure where u are but i'll be there in about half an hour</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Allison:</b>
  <span> there's a long driveway</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Allison:</b>
  <span> and when u get here i'm demanding deets on how u know erik</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Nicky:</b>
  <span> oh boy</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Nicky:</b>
  <span> THAT is a story buckle up</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Nicky:</b>
  <span> what did he tell u</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Allison:</b>
  <span> like nothing he just asked if i could get to sc so u wld have somewhere to stay</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Nicky:</b>
  <span> sfjlghkjf yeah ok i will give u deets in person</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Allison:</b>
  <span> good</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She sends him the address, and Nicky plugs it into his GPS. It's about forty-five minutes away. Perfect.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Her last name's Reynolds," he says to Andrew as he starts the car. Navigating out of the parking lot is, again, not a delight with one arm in a sling, but he manages. "How does your head feel?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andrew considers it for a moment. "My ears are not ringing anymore."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nicky glances over to Andrew to see what his face is doing. "Are they actually not ringing or are you just saying that because you don't want to go to a doctor?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andrew immediately says, "Eyes on the road." Which is fair, considering Nicky said it on reflex all the way to PSU. "And they are actually not ringing."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Awesome. We're going to a doctor anyway."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I assumed so."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Compared to sitting in a stationary car doing nothing for hours, driving for forty-five minutes is an absolute breeze. The sky lightens as they drive, and when the sun finally rises, it's pretty beautiful.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Not beautiful enough for Nicky to pull any more all-nighters if he doesn't have to. But beautiful.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The GPS leads them past the suburbs to a winding lane with houses set far back behind hedges or rows of trees. Allison Reynolds' house is right at the end. Nicky pulls into a driveway with trees stretching all the way down to an honest-to-God fountain in front of the house.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"This will be interesting," he says.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There's another car parked in the driveway, a black Range Rover that's sparkling clean. Nicky parks behind it and turns the engine off. "Ready?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andrew gets out without replying. Nicky follows him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The house, he can already tell, is nice. It's a few stories tall, with huge windows, a balcony, and manicured lawn all around it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And there's someone leaning in the front doorway so deliberately they could have been posed that way.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Allison Reynolds is around their age and wearing expensive athleisure that's color-coordinated right down to her obscenely fashionable green and white sneakers. She looks like she just bought an entire Lululemon. Her twists, neatly swept over one shoulder, change gradually from black at her scalp to light blonde at her waist. She's also tall enough to look Nicky in the eye, and that is exactly what she does, right before she looks him and Andrew up and down and says, "Wow, Erik didn't tell me you were emo. Is it 2005 again?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andrew looks ready to commit another murder </span>
  <em>
    <span>(another,</span>
  </em>
  <span> oh God, Nicky's life has definitely gone in a </span>
  <em>
    <span>direction)</span>
  </em>
  <span> and Nicky suddenly can't decide if he hates her or if she's his new best friend. "We work at a club. There's kind of a dress code."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Huh." Allison purses her lips, then nods briskly and says, "Nice car. Come on in."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Okay, she's cool.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You don't even have any bags?" she adds as she steps aside to let them through.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"We were not planning to spend our night this way," Nicky says delicately.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Allison shuts the door. "I mean, me neither, but I still brought </span>
  <em>
    <span>luggage."</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>The outside of the house was nice, but the inside of the house is... rich. That's the only way Nicky can describe it. There are high ceilings and hardwood floors, and an actual foyer, which leads directly into a living room dominated by a massive sectional, a chandelier, and floor-to-ceiling windows.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It's also all ridiculously tidy. And it's tastefully decorated, but the walls are pretty bare.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Allison notices him looking around and waves her hand. Her nails match her leggings. And her shoes. "I don't spend a lot of time here. My family is mostly on the West Coast these days. Did you seriously not bring anything?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Seriously," Nicky says. "Andrew might have a pack of cigarettes on him somewhere."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Allison nods and directs her attention to Andrew. "'Kay. Take the room with the balcony, then. Do not smoke in here, the smell will never come out of the furniture."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Your parents can buy more," Andrew says calmly. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Great</span>
  </em>
  <span>. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Allison narrows her eyes at him. "It's </span>
  <em>
    <span>my</span>
  </em>
  <span> furniture, prick. You smoke on the balcony or you sleep in your car. Your choice."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A door opens somewhere in the house, and Nicky and Andrew stiffen. Allison doesn't. "Seth, come meet our guests. One is nicer than the other."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Footsteps echo down the hall, and a guy who looks about Nicky's age, with a brown buzz cut and a guarded look in his eyes, appears. He's dressed in athleisure too, with less color-coordination and more 'I actually woke up like this.' But he moves in a smooth, sure way that reminds Nicky of the countless bodyguards that orbit around Erik and his family. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nicky does not relax.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The other guy does. He doesn't quite smile, but his eyes crinkle up at the corners. "I'm Seth. Allison's bodyguard." </span>
  <em>
    <span>Called it.</span>
  </em>
  <span> Although if he's Allison's bodyguard, why wasn't he with her at the door?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nicky decides not to worry about that right now. Presumably, that's Allison and Seth's problem. "I'm Nicky. That's Andrew." Andrew is scowling, probably because he's the shortest person in the room by about a foot. "I wish I could blame his attitude on the head injury, but he's usually like this."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Seth shrugs. "Man, this house is big enough that we do not need to interact with each other if we don't want to."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Which is a fair point. "Anyway. We're supposed to go to a call with Erik in..." Nicky glances at his phone. "A little under forty-five minutes, and obviously we don't really have anything to unpack. Do you have a phone charger?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Allison walks into the living room. Nicky follows her and discovers there's an open-plan kitchen just barely out of sight from the foyer. She rummages around in a drawer and turns around with three different phone chargers, each neatly folded up and twist-tied into a bundle. "Do any of these work?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nicky grabs the right one. "Outlet?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Living room." She plops down on the sectional and kicks her shoes off. Her socks are so brilliantly white that Nicky half wonders if they've ever been worn before. "Also, you owe me deets."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The couch </span>
  <em>
    <span>does</span>
  </em>
  <span> look comfortable as fuck. Nicky finds the outlet in the wall and plugs his phone in. "Yeah, I'll be there in one second."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Nicky:</b>
  <span> @ allisons</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Erik responds about two seconds later.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Erik&lt;3:</b>
  <span> Good</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Nicky:</b>
  <span> she gave me a phone charger and im about to give her deets on how we know each other</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Erik&lt;3:</b>
  <span> Yeah that sounds like something she would ask for</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Erik&lt;3:</b>
  <span> Like I said she knows who we are</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Erik&lt;3:</b>
  <span> She's also familiar with why we normally have such a hard time getting our people into the country so expect questions on that</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Nicky:</b>
  <span> good to know</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Nicky:</b>
  <span> see u soon ily</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Erik&lt;3:</b>
  <span> Ily I'm glad you made it in one piece</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Erik&lt;3:</b>
  <span> This security meeting is still going I envy you</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Erik&lt;3:</b>
  <span> See you soon</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nicky leaves his phone on the floor and heads for the couch. Seth is sprawled out by Allison, and Andrew has deigned to take a seat way at the other end. Nicky sits down in between them. "Erik's apparently been in a meeting for like... almost four hours and it's still going."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Oh, no," Andrew says in a dead monotone. "He must be experiencing unbearable suffering." Seth's eyebrows do some sort of weird confused thing at him, which Nicky ignores. Seth will get used to Andrew eventually. Or he won't. Whatever.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"So where do I start?" he asks Allison.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She leans forward. "At the beginning. How'd you meet?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Well, if she doesn't want him to start with how he's involved with the Kloses now, then he can save the big fiancé reveal for the end. Which actually sounds fun. It's so rare that Nicky actually gets to do dramatic reveals of anything. "I studied abroad in Germany in high school. He was my host brother. To this day I have no idea how their family was approved for the program."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Allison grins. "What was that like?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Pretty normal, if I ignored all the bodyguards and secret conversations." They'd kept the Kloses' actual business as secret from Nicky as they could, but he'd had his suspicions, and once he'd committed to staying, they'd spilled everything. Mina had told Nicky eventually that they'd signed up for the exchange program in the hopes of making some connections in the US, no matter how small, and perhaps recruiting some American citizens. Nobody had expected it to work quite as well as it had. "Also, I'm pretty sure the point of the exchange was to live with a normal German family, and they are definitely not normal." Nicky shrugs. "But I'm not complaining. That was my senior year, and I wasn't all that enthusiastic about going back home, so I decided to stay in Germany with the Kloses."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There's something sharp in Allison's eyes. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Is she wearing eyeliner before eight AM?</span>
  </em>
  <span> "Then why haven't any of them mentioned you? And what are you doing over here?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nicky restrains a grin and leans back into the couch cushions. They are incredibly comfortable in a way that reminds him of how long he was sitting in the car. The GS's seats are supposedly very luxurious, but they're also leather. "Well. I'm kind of a secret."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She smirks. "I </span>
  <em>
    <span>knew</span>
  </em>
  <span> there was going to be something interesting."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Erik said you know about the problems they've been having in the US?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Yeah. They used to visit here for big events, but we've been meeting up in Europe for years. Erik filled me in the last time I was in Switzerland after I refused to leave him alone until he told me."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Seth snickers. The corner of Andrew's mouth pulls up. Nicky agrees. He has no trouble envisioning Allison Reynolds dogging Erik's footsteps until he answered her questions, considering how laser-focused she is on Nicky right now.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Allison raises one eyebrow. The gesture looks very different on her than it does on Andrew. "So? You're a secret, is that so you can operate here?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Hmm. Kind of." Nicky glances at Andrew, who shrugs. "I wasn't planning to come back, but eventually I did so I could fight my parents for custody of my cousins."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Allison looks over at Andrew. "So there's more than one of you."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Literally," Nicky says. "He's a twin."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andrew rolls his eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"And then I had to stick around here to get them through high school, so we figured I might as well get some work done while I'm here."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Allison purses her lips. "So if you weren't planning to come back in the first place, then why are you a secret?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nicky lets himself smile. Finally, they're starting to get to the point. "Oh, that was for my safety. Also the rest of the family's. They didn't want to let anyone know I exist until I'm experienced enough to not get kidnapped, since there are some rival families nearby." Well, really, just one, since the Moriyamas absorbed a family based in Marseille a while ago. The Kloses, and their geographically nearest allies, the Hatfords, have been battling it out in France with the Moriyamas for years. They've pretty much gotten the north and the east secured, but that's not enough to make Nicky completely safe. At least, not yet. "I'm a bit of a weak link."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You're skipping something," Allison says decisively.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I am." Nicky's full-on grinning by now, he knows he is, but he hasn't been able to tell anyone new in </span>
  <em>
    <span>so long.</span>
  </em>
  <span> Is it really such a crime to drag it out? "You want to know why I was going to stay with the Kloses?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Allison raises both eyebrows this time. Andrew sighs.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nicky's </span>
  <em>
    <span>so</span>
  </em>
  <span> ready for this. "There are lots of reasons. But the main one is that a few months after graduation, Erik and I got engaged."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Allison's jaw drops.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Seth says, "</span>
  <em>
    <span>Dude."</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>She holds a hand up. "Okay. Okay, wait. This was how many years ago?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"A little less than seven." It was July when Nicky committed to the Kloses, August when he and Erik both knew, September when they made it official, at least between them and Philipp, Mina, and Alice. Ever since then, it's been this strange liminal space of an engagement and a long-distance relationship, both of which are secret. They don't have rings. That's one of the first things they're going to fix when Nicky gets back. "Why?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You've just been hanging around in secret ever since?" She frowns. "I saw Erik, like, three years ago and he didn't say anything."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Which is good, but at the same time, it's a strong reminder of why Nicky wants all this Moriyama shit to just be done. "Yeah, I've been back in the States for six years pretending not to know anything about the Kloses. It was kind of a necessary condition for me staying alive."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"But you're telling me now?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nicky shrugs. "Yeah, the Moriyamas already know I'm in the country causing them problems, so it doesn't really matter anymore."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Damn." She leans back into the couch. "Is that why Erik called me in the middle of the night to find out if I had any properties in South Carolina? And why you both look beat up?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Yeah."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Allison points at Andrew. "And you fit into this how?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andrew shrugs. "I am not a good bargaining chip, but technically since Nicky is a secret I am too."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Damn," Allison repeats. "I'm gonna leave him so many voicemails about not telling me he's </span>
  <em>
    <span>engaged</span>
  </em>
  <span> until it was a literal emergency. Actually, wait, he didn't even tell me, you did. So about not telling me he's engaged in general." She taps her nails for a moment. "'Kay, I'm going on a breakfast run. Pancakes?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Allison and Seth breeze out the front door a couple of minutes later with instructions for Nicky and Andrew to text Allison their orders from the online menu of the restaurant they're going to. It's pretty standard breakfast fare. Nicky requests blueberry pancakes and is not at all surprised when Andrew picks the option with the most chocolate. Still, if that's what it takes to keep the peace in this unconventional household, then that's what it takes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Without Allison and Seth around looking like they belong here, the house feels weirder, all calculated color choices and carefully placed furniture, like they're sitting in a showroom, kind of gross after that fight and clashing with everything from the colors to the overall tidiness. "I'm pretty sure I haven't been somewhere this clean since... actually, I don't even know when. It's not like we've won any housekeeping awards."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andrew's occupied with staring into space, but he does glance over at Nicky, which is the unspoken signal for 'I am able to tolerate you rambling aimlessly right now as long as you do not expect a response from me.' Another priceless piece of Andrew body language that Nicky has picked up over the years. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>So he continues. "I wonder what's going to happen at this meeting. I mean, I'm hoping they don't just decide to pull us back to Germany. Well, pull me back, and pull you in general. Because of Aaron. But at the same time, it's not like they can send us any help, and at this point we're sitting ducks in Columbia. But all our stuff is there. We can't wait them out now that they know we're here." He sighs. The couch cushion is so perfectly fluffed up that it feels made for it. "You know, I really thought we were going to get through this without any incidents?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andrew glances at him again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I mean, yeah, in hindsight that was super naive. But come on. We have like... less than a year left. I thought we were going to make it." Nicky sighs. "But things don't ever go that smoothly, do they? And the obvious thing to do is to just run away before the Moriyamas can really dig their claws in—hey, that was totally a Ravens pun—actually, don't they have talons, not claws? The birds, not the exy team." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andrew doesn't dignify that with a response.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Anyway. I don't want to just leave, because all the reasons we're here in the first place still apply."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And now that Nicky's thinking out loud, things are coming to him faster. "And what the hell were they doing in Columbia? I know they basically own the East Coast, but we're pretty far south compared to Baltimore and NYC. That's the whole reason we're still </span>
  <em>
    <span>here.</span>
  </em>
  <span> We're not really near any of their known offices, at least the main ones, and even Edgar Allan's not exactly in the neighborhood. So they must have made a special trip."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Just for us," Andrew says. "What a joy." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He does not look joyous.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Things are </span>
  <em>
    <span>seriously</span>
  </em>
  <span> connecting. Nicky points a finger vaguely in Andrew's direction. "</span>
  <em>
    <span>Yes.</span>
  </em>
  <span> Just for us. </span>
  <em>
    <span>And</span>
  </em>
  <span> they took over five years to do it. Do you know what that means?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You are going to tell me."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Yes, I am, because I've just realized I'm absolutely brilliant and you're the only one around to hear it. Okay. So, like, we've been here for so long that the Moriyamas either didn't think we were a threat or didn't know we were here at all. Because otherwise, they would have definitely come after us before now. Right?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andrew nods slightly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"So, option one, they didn't think we were a threat. Why come after us now? Something must have changed. Either we passed something on to Erik that is actually hurting the Moriyamas, or their position has become vulnerable and they need to shore everything up, including people who they didn't think were dangerous enough to bother with before." Nicky mulls it over. "Both of those things are good. But option two, they just didn't know we were here. They must have found out about information leaking to Europe and started looking for possible Klose or Hatford allies in their territory, and it either took them years to find us or it took them years to realize anything was leaking. Both of </span>
  <em>
    <span>those</span>
  </em>
  <span> mean that their intelligence is not what we thought it was. Also extremely good."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andrew raises an eyebrow. He's actually looking at Nicky now, not just staring into space. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"</span>
  <em>
    <span>That</span>
  </em>
  <span> means we've either done damage, or they're weaker than we thought, or both. And if something as small as us telling the Kloses about things anyone could hear by chance if they're in Eden's at the right time—little, unimportant things, I mean—makes the Moriyamas sit up and take notice? </span>
  <em>
    <span>And</span>
  </em>
  <span> try to take us out? I think that means it's both." Nicky grins. "They're vulnerable. They're lashing out. They're looking for ways to hit back at the Kloses, and they can't even manage to kidnap me when I'm right in their territory. Nor can they manage to kill you, obviously, but no offense, I think that was kind of a side goal for them."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andrew touches the bandage Aaron gave him, then he must notice Nicky looking because he seamlessly switches to folding his arms.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"</span>
  <em>
    <span>So</span>
  </em>
  <span> they're ineffective, which means they're doing things fast and sloppy. I mean, they </span>
  <em>
    <span>obviously</span>
  </em>
  <span> didn't do enough recon if they thought sending two people after you would be enough." Nicky considers that. "It's honestly weird that they didn't just shoot you? Not that I wanted them to shoot you. Obviously." Wait. "They didn't shoot you, right? Because you already lied about how injured you were once."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"By omission."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Still counts. But they didn't shoot you, right?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"No." Nicky stares at Andrew until he elaborates. "Falling and hitting your head in the dark can conceivably look like an accident. They expected me to be unarmed."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"</span>
  <em>
    <span>Another</span>
  </em>
  <span> thing they did wrong."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You are smiling," Andrew notes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Yeah, because I think we're about to hit the point."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Are we?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You have so little faith in me." Andrew opens his mouth and Nicky shamelessly steamrollers over whatever he was going to say. "The Moriyamas are maybe </span>
  <em>
    <span>not</span>
  </em>
  <span> very hale and hearty at the moment, if they can fuck up something as simple as kidnapping someone who's outside alone at night, unarmed, and not too experienced a fighter." Nicky can really feel that smile now, but fuck it, he's </span>
  <em>
    <span>satisfied.</span>
  </em>
  <span> "They're desperate. I don't know why, but I do know that it means now is the perfect time to hit them back </span>
  <em>
    <span>hard.</span>
  </em>
  <span> If we do it right, we can damage them severely or maybe even ruin their power base in the US completely. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Voilà."</span>
  </em>
  <span> Nicky throws his arms out to the sides. Then, for good measure, he adds jazz hands.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Then there is a slight possibility that Kevin Day will last twenty-four hours outside Baltimore," Andrew says. He doesn't even roll his eyes at the jazz hands. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ah, Nicky knew there was a reason he'd let Andrew figure out who the Kloses really were four years ago. "Ooh, I like the way you think. So if they're losing power in exy, they grab for it somewhere else. Like Europe. Via, presumably, ransoming me off to the Kloses in exchange for eastern France. Or something more creative than that, I don't know. They've probably been thinking about it for longer than I have. But if they're desperate, then maybe they </span>
  <em>
    <span>are</span>
  </em>
  <span> just taking the stupidly obvious road."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andrew tilts his head a bit. "They knew you would be leverage."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Are you saying we should flip the script and kidnap Kevin Day before the Moriyamas get him back? Bold. I like it."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"No." He looks over at the wall, and Nicky follows his gaze to Nicky's phone, still charging. "They knew you were worth the effort to take alive. They knew you mattered to someone in the family. They knew the Kloses would care. I would not say that is stupidly obvious to many people."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Fuck.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And just like that, icy dread trickles down Nicky's spine and pools in his lungs. "You're right. It's not."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andrew just keeps watching Nicky's phone. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nicky starts counting. Him. Andrew. Aaron. Erik. Alice, Philipp, Mina. Allison and Seth, too, now. Who else?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Roland knows Nicky isn't interested in being set up with anyone, but Nicky has never even hinted at why. Nicky's parents know that Nicky went to Germany, but they barely learned the Kloses' names before sending him off. Nicky's pretty sure they wouldn't have cared to learn anything else, not after that picture...</span>
</p><p>
  <span>No. They couldn't possibly have read anything deeper into it than 'I'm at Pride, fuck you.' None of the other Kloses were in the shot. Erik had taken the picture on Nicky's phone, his primary bodyguard Miray had been offering lighting suggestions, and nobody else had been there.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Still, they're the only ones who would both have any idea and be willing to tell </span>
  <em>
    <span>actual hitmen</span>
  </em>
  <span> about him...</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"That doesn't make any sense," Nicky mutters.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andrew looks back over at him. "Why not?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Do you even know what I'm talking about?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I can almost hear you thinking about dear Luther and Maria."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sometimes Nicky wonders if he and Andrew spend too much time together. Not in a good way. And right now is one of those times. Andrew has this way of making things sound like cynical yet irrevocable truths that Nicky really does not need at the moment. "Andrew, it doesn't make </span>
  <em>
    <span>any</span>
  </em>
  <span> sense. Why would they have anything to do with the Moriyamas?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Maybe they exchange parenting tips."</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Helpful.</span>
  </em>
  <span> Nicky sighs and starts to rub his hands across his face. He remembers point-two seconds later about the punch he received a few hours ago, when the bruise on his cheekbone makes itself known in an ugly way. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Ouch.</span>
  </em>
  <span> "Okay, clearly you have some kind of idea about my parents and how they might fit into this. Walk me through it."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"The Moriyamas found you here." Ah, yes, the 'irrevocable truths' voice is here. Exactly as Nicky predicted. "They considered their options. They wanted to know if your parents would make a fuss if you disappeared, so they went to find out." Andrew lifts his shoulders the tiniest bit, the barest hint of a shrug. "They found out more than they expected."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"But they didn't go to Aaron."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Aaron is a sleep-deprived college student three midterms away from a complete nervous breakdown, and his history would not win any pigs over. If he did say something about you disappearing, it would not matter. Besides, you talk to him. The Moriyamas would not risk him warning us."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nicky's lungs feel like blocks of ice in his chest. "Let's go back to talking about kidnapping Kevin Day."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I never said anything about kidnapping Kevin Day."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"But </span>
  <em>
    <span>now</span>
  </em>
  <span> you have."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andrew's side-eye is sharper than his knives.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But right now Nicky isn't really in a position to appreciate that. "You're the one telling me my parents sold us out to the fucking yakuza, will you cut me some slack?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andrew goes back to staring into space. "Denial is making you stupid." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>And just like that, Nicky feels himself deflate. "I'm not angry at you. I'm..."</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Pissed off. Scared. Tired. Lonely.</span>
  </em>
  <span> And yes, </span>
  <em>
    <span>angry, </span>
  </em>
  <span>but it's not because of Andrew. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It's because there is no reason for Andrew to be wrong. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Moriyamas probably could have figured out </span>
  <em>
    <span>exactly</span>
  </em>
  <span> what Nicky is to the Kloses in one conversation, without his parents even knowing they were being pumped for information. They might not have even intended to hurt him. But the Moriyamas knew that they would anyway. And isn't that just a great summary of Nicky's relationship with his parents? So messed up that it takes a cynic to cut through the bullshit and expose the beating heart of it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I'm tired of them finding new ways to fuck up my life," he says finally. "And I don't want to believe it. But I'm not sure I have a choice."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It takes a few moments, but Andrew looks back at him. "They will not leave you until you make them."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nicky gives him a weary smile that he's pretty sure they both see straight through. "I'm trying."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The silence stretches out, and Nicky lets the smile drop off of his face. How long until the meeting? Allison and Seth left several minutes ago, Nicky's not sure how far away this restaurant is or how busy they're going to be on a Thursday morning. Hopefully they'll be back with food before 8:30, because his shoulders are starting to feel heavy in a way that has nothing to do with how many consecutive hours he's been awake.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But </span>
  <em>
    <span>that</span>
  </em>
  <span> is a lot of hours, and Nicky's about thirty seconds away from falling asleep sitting up on the couch when Andrew says, "We do not have the resources to kidnap Kevin Day."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nicky takes the topic change eagerly. "What if he came with us willingly?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"We would have to get to him first."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Okay, yeah, I see your point. I still think it would be a fun way of turning the tables, though."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Flip them instead."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"We don't have the resources to go apeshit, either."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nicky's phone buzzes, and he almost launches himself over the couch to get to it. He lands on the ground in a way that is less than dignified, but he doesn't fall over or land on his injured shoulder, and he gets to his phone before the screen goes dark, so he's counting that as a win.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"We don't?" Andrew says, politely bemused in a way that Nicky knows is one hundred percent calculated to be insulting.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He waves his hand vaguely in Andrew's direction. "If you think that was apeshit, you need to recalibrate your standards."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Erik&lt;3:</b>
  <span> Finally finished oh god</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Erik&lt;3:</b>
  <span> How are you holding up</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Nicky:</b>
  <span> hmm</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Nicky:</b>
  <span> could be better could be worse</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Nicky:</b>
  <span> allison and seth r getting us food</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Nicky:</b>
  <span> and andrew has likely-truth bombs to drop at 830</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Erik&lt;3:</b>
  <span> That sounds ominous</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Nicky:</b>
  <span> it is</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Nicky:</b>
  <span> i am warning u right now</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Nicky:</b>
  <span> u will not be pleased with what he thinks is happening</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Erik&lt;3:</b>
  <span> In a 'that's stupid' or a 'that's horrific' way</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Nicky:</b>
  <span> horrific</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Nicky:</b>
  <span> i wish it was stupid</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Nicky:</b>
  <span> he thinks my parents are how the moriyamas found us</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There's a long pause, long enough that Nicky wonders if Alice or someone is demanding Erik's attention again. He considers sitting back down on the couch, but right as he's putting his phone on the floor, it buzzes.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>Erik&lt;3:</b>
  <span> Ah.</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Erik&lt;3:</b>
  <span> I wish that was stupid too.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Erik doesn't add anything else, but he doesn't really need to. They'll probably operate on that assumption going forward.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sitting back down on the couch feels more like an expression of resignation than anything. And again, Nicky finds himself waiting for the time to pass.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But it's not hours, like it was in the car, and he's not stuck in a driver's seat trying to be as quiet as possible to let Andrew sleep. Andrew's awake, and the sun is over the horizon, giving the room that soft early morning light, and the couch is </span>
  <em>
    <span>really</span>
  </em>
  <span> comfy...</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The sound of the front door opening wakes Nicky up so abruptly that for a moment he forgets he was asleep at all.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"A full eight minutes of uninterrupted sleep," Andrew says. "You are a paragon of health."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Thanks, Concussion Man. Right back atcha."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Allison appears in Nicky's peripheral vision. "Some of us don't have illegal secret meetings in ten minutes and are going to sleep. Your food's on the kitchen island. Mine is coming with me."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"To sleep?" Nicky says.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Fuck if I know." She shrugs. "The current plan is to get through as much of it as possible before I fall asleep in my clothes. I think Seth's passed out already."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And then Allison vanishes, and with every last bit of strength in his body, Nicky stands up and heads for the kitchen island, where there are two takeout boxes clashing dramatically with the granite countertop. The aroma of blueberry and chocolate is straight-up wafting into the air. Andrew locates forks, Nicky passes him the chocolate with a dash of pancake, and when he takes the first bite of his own pancakes, his stomach suddenly makes it viciously, </span>
  <em>
    <span>loudly</span>
  </em>
  <span> clear that he is in desperate need of calories.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"How much time do we have before 8:30?" he says around a mouthful of the greatest pancakes on the planet.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andrew raises an eyebrow at him, but the effect is kind of ruined when he responds with his mouth full as well. "More than enough if you keep that up."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Thank fuck. I love Katelyn—"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You met her once."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nicky shoves another bite of blueberry pancakes into his mouth instead of acknowledging that. "But a few handfuls of kettle corn five hours ago were </span>
  <em>
    <span>not </span>
  </em>
  <span>enough to cope with that all-nighter. Speaking of, I'm genuinely torn between showering after this meeting or going straight to sleep. Well, not straight. You know what I meant."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Judging by his unimpressed stare, Andrew does in fact know exactly what Nicky meant. "Your attempts at humor grow exponentially weaker the longer you stay awake."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I </span>
  <em>
    <span>did</span>
  </em>
  <span> get those eight minutes of sleep, though. Mythbusters did a thing about that once. It's better than nothing."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Better than nothing is not the same as good."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"We're a pretty long way away from 'good' right now. Do I need to call you Concussion Man to your face again?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Given that nobody else is around to speak to, I would be delighted to know what the alternatives are." He's already half-done with his pancakes. </span>
  <em>
    <span>What the fuck.</span>
  </em>
  <span> Nicky's only about a quarter of the way through his.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Psychic energy."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Hm. I was incorrect about being delighted."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Weak."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andrew doesn't dignify that with a response, so Nicky imagines the most middle school-sounding </span>
  <em>
    <span>Whatever</span>
  </em>
  <span> he can dredge up from the depths of his mind. And then he focuses on his pancakes. It's a shame he didn't ask Allison how the fancy-looking chrome coffee maker on the counter works before she went to bed. He's not sure coffee would accomplish anything, but it goes well with pancakes. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Not well enough for him to bother trying to figure the machine out, though. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I guess this will be your first time actually meeting Erik's family," he realizes. "They're chill. Or at least, they usually are. Not sure how chill they'll be in this specific scenario. Okay, they're chill most of the time. I mean, as much as they can be given their profession. Which is also our profession, so does it matter? Ugh, I hope I'm more coherent than </span>
  <em>
    <span>that</span>
  </em>
  <span> by the time the meeting actually starts. Especially if we're pitching going on the offense against the Moriyamas."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You are pitching that," Andrew corrects without looking up from his pancakes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You're telling me you </span>
  <em>
    <span>don't</span>
  </em>
  <span> want to go on a tiny bit of a murder spree? I mean, sure, we could try kidnapping Aaron from school and hiding until we can get a flight to Germany, but we would be leaving behind a golden opportunity. And running to Germany is basically our only other option."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"The two of us cannot do it ourselves."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nicky takes it as the concession it is. "And </span>
  <em>
    <span>that's</span>
  </em>
  <span> why I'm going to pitch it and see what help we can get. The Kloses might have some personnel issues with the States, but they're not helpless, and by extension, neither are we. Plus, Erik already said they were looking into making some arrangements with allies, so maybe we can leverage those. Either way, we'll be better off than we are now."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"That is a bold statement."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Having any sort of idea about what we're going to do next is better than what we're doing now. I don't just want to sit around hoping that the Moriyamas don't find us again."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"And if they tell you to turn and run to Germany?" Andrew props his fork on the empty takeout box and goes back to the couch. "You are the weak link of the family."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Sure." It's not really a point of pride for him—it's easy to be the weak link in a group of people so accomplished at killing. "Then I'll ask them what else they think they're going to do. At the very least, we'll just divert enough Moriyama resources here that the Kloses and Hatfords can push them out of Europe. Then maybe we can get a foot in the door here before they double down on what territory they </span>
  <em>
    <span>do</span>
  </em>
  <span> have. It's not like anyone else is able to get here."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"And you expect Erik to just go along with that." It's not a question.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nicky finishes his pancakes, then realizes Andrew is probably expecting a response. "I do, provided that we can get more backup than just the two of us. Reasonable concern is one thing. But he's not my babysitter, and I've made it this far. I'm not planning some kind of suicide mission where I have to kill Ichirou Moriyama at all costs. Once I know the tools I'm getting, I'll pick something reasonable."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Reasonable," Andrew echoes. "Certainly."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You were the one who got yourself into a car crash to kill Tilda, so don't pretend you're a shining example of risk-averse behavior." Nicky grabs his phone. It's not at one hundred percent yet, but keeping it plugged in for the meeting would be complicated, so he unplugs it anyway and sits down just close enough to Andrew on the couch that both of their faces will be in the frame. "Compared to that, I'd call this downright sane."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andrew raises an eyebrow. "Almost getting kidnapped has put you in a mood."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I know I can make this work. Are you going to believe me?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He sighs. "Someone has to."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nicky grins. His phone buzzes in his hand—it's a text from Alice with a link. "Then I guess it's time for our family meeting. Well, minus Aaron, but I'm sure there will be better times to introduce him to the future in-laws."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"If you force me to socialize, I will not be pleasant about it."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You say that like I haven't watched you murder social interactions countless times over the years. Trust me, I know." Nicky taps the link.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They're not the first people there—Philipp, gray hair aggressively neat as always, and Mina, fiddling with her turquoise necklace, are sharing one frame. Alice is there too, in a room that looks suspiciously like Erik's bedroom; she's rolled the sleeves of her white button-down up to her elbows and is frowning at something on her phone, but she smiles when she sees Nicky and Andrew. "Hi!"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Long time no see," Nicky says. He's got such a mix of emotions roiling in his chest that it's hard to keep track of them all, but it's good to see the others again. Except for the circumstances. "Hi, everyone."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Philipp's forehead creases as he switches the conversation to German. "When are you going to a doctor?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"He means hello," Mina adds. "But I agree. Has Senna sent you a list of acceptable choices?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nicky shrugs. "Sleeping is higher priority right now. We'll try to go today. Speaking of which, this is Andrew. Andrew, these are Philipp and Mina, and Alice."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andrew nods to the screen, which is high courtesy coming from him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Alice sets her phone down. "Erik will be here in a moment. He's talking to Stuart Hatford."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Head of the family in the UK," Nicky mutters. Andrew nods slightly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"They've been talking for a while." Mina frowns. "That is either good or bad."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A door opens, and Erik appears in the same frame as Alice, forehead creased, typing something on his phone. He hits send, slides it into the pocket of his suit jacket, and drags the plush armchair from the corner of his room over to his desk. This is immediately followed by him dropping into the chair and saying, "The Hatfords will help to get Nicky, Andrew, and Aaron to safety."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"But not for free?" Mina says.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Erik sighs and shakes his head. "They want us to help them take out the Butcher of Baltimore."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Oh, </span>
  <em>
    <span>fuck</span>
  </em>
  <span> yeah," Nicky says.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Everyone falls pin-drop silent and stares at... wherever Nicky's face is on their screens. Andrew huffs out a breath that could be either a laugh or a sigh. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Right.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He probably should have saved that for the end of the meeting.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Philipp's eyebrows are creeping up his forehead. "Would you like to elaborate on that?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nicky takes a deep breath.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He lays out the facts for them the same way he'd laid them out for Andrew, but without the side note about kidnapping Kevin Day, because that was more of a joke than anything and probably much more trouble than it's worth. The frown stays on Mina's face, but Alice nods along, and Philipp's eyebrows are returning to a normal altitude.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Erik looks far away, which Nicky tries not to worry about too much. He turns inward when there's a lot to think about.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There just </span>
  <em>
    <span>has</span>
  </em>
  <span> to be a reason that the Moriyamas came after them now.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I wasn't thinking about the Butcher specifically, but it makes sense," he tacks on at the end. "There's no way we'd be able to get to the main branch without getting him out of the way first, and if he does have some sort of heir, he's keeping it </span>
  <em>
    <span>very</span>
  </em>
  <span> off-the-radar. Why do the Hatfords want to take him out, anyway?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Erik shrugs and his gaze focuses back on the computer screen. "Stuart wasn't forthcoming with details, since I told him I wasn't able to give him an answer right away. He said we could take it or leave it. I think he's expecting us to agree, since we get something out of it too."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Wesninski's wife was a Hatford," Mina says. "Odd that Stuart would pick now for some kind of revenge, though. It's been years, hasn't it?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Philipp nods. "They held the funeral... eight or nine years ago, I think. For her and her son. Stuart said they didn't last long enough outside Baltimore to make it to London."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Whoa.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Okay.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Ten years ago," Alice says dully. "I was thirteen."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Everyone falls silent.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nicky's not really sure how to rally this one. Although it sounds like if the Butcher had had an heir at some point, he doesn't anymore.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yikes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It's Philipp who breaks the silence. "Erik. Did Stuart give details of what would be expected of us?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Erik frowns. "He wants us to be all in. Do what we're doing in France."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"That's a big ask."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"He seemed to think it was worth it. He also said he could leverage his contacts in Canada to get us in if we agree."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Alice raises her eyebrows. "He has secret contacts in Canada?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Erik shrugs. "Well, they're not so secret now."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"That would have been nice to know six years ago." Mina taps her nails on something, loud enough that the clicking noise comes through the speakers of Nicky's phone. "It changes things."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"We'd be spreading our resources very thin," Philipp points out.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Not alone, though," Alice says. "And Stuart wouldn't waste a favor on something frivolous."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"So he thinks we can do it," Nicky says.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Mina's eyebrows draw together. "Nicky, you don't have to be involved just because you're already over there. If we're going on the offense, we should keep the family together. Especially you."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Going on the offense </span>
  <em>
    <span>again,"</span>
  </em>
  <span> Nicky says. "There's France. The Hatfords are there too."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Erik frowns. He doesn't look enthusiastic. Not that Nicky blames him, but there are times to be protected and times to kick people in the crotch with your heaviest boots. "If you stay over there, then there's no point to making a deal with them at all."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"They'd owe us a favor. A big one. </span>
  <em>
    <span>And</span>
  </em>
  <span> we'd get rid of the Butcher."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Ideally."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Ideally," Nicky acknowledges. "Look, it's been a wild, um, nine hours, but none of you saw what Andrew and I did. That kidnapping attempt was honestly shoddy. We can keep drawing them out, be ready for them to bring more guns every time, if we have support from the Hatfords as well. I think it's a good idea, and I think that Andrew and I should be here for it." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Besides, the longer they can keep the Butcher and the Moriyamas occupied, the more time Aaron will have to finish his degree. Is it a weird priority? Sure. But Aaron fought tooth and nail to get through high school and get to college. Nicky's going to do what he can to make sure that doesn't go to waste.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Mina nods slowly. "Of course, you wouldn't be doing this alone. We can use Stuart's contacts to get some more of our people into the United States to help, and I'm sure they'll contribute personnel as well."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"We could go in hard in France, as well." Alice props her chin on one hand. "To make sure they can't call in reinforcements from their international efforts. Maybe reach out to the Moreaus and see if we can convince them to defect."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"They'd never," Erik says. "That would be like asking Wesninski to turn on the Moriyamas, if Wesninski was less powerful and didn't have any territory to really call his own. It would be an instant death sentence for them."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Philipp looks thoughtful. "If they saw the Moriyamas losing ground in Europe, they could potentially be persuaded to join up with us and the Hatfords to save themselves. That would speed up the process as well, as long as we could time it to make sure that the Moriyamas wouldn't just surrender Europe to strengthen their control over the United States."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"So, drag it out long enough that them calling back their people from France wouldn't make much of a difference," Nicky says.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He nods. "It'll be better to take it slow, anyway. We don't want to risk moving too fast and exposing weak spots."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Hold on," Erik says, and Nicky somehow knows he's going to switch to English a half second before he actually does. It doesn't mean guaranteed privacy, but Philipp's grasp of the language is mediocre and Mina's is nonexistent, so there's that. "You know you don't need to prove anything, right? You don't have to be part of this. You can just come home."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nicky holds back a sigh (because oh, he </span>
  <em>
    <span>wishes)</span>
  </em>
  <span> and tries for a smile. "I do have to be part of this, though. I'm pissed off. And I know I don't need to prove anything to you or the family, but the Moriyamas have picked me out as a weak link now. They're not going to stop going after me until I prove otherwise. If I have enough backup, I'll be fine, the Moriyamas will get a roundhouse kick in the teeth, and then I'll come home."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Erik sighs and sits back in his chair. "Okay. Then I'll get you backup. More than enough."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nicky actually smiles now. "So we're good to go."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"That was touching," Alice comments. She flips the conversation back to German. "We're doing it."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Erik is already pulling his phone back out. "Is there anything else we need to talk about now? I want to get back to Stuart and start coordinating with him. And I'll need to know who we can send over."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"We'll update you if you miss anything," Philipp says. Erik nods and leaves the frame.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"We need to do something about Aaron," Nicky says. "Obviously, since we're staying here he is too, but I don't want to just leave him to fend for himself while we take on the Butcher."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"No, that would be stupid," Mina agrees calmly. "He's aware of the situation, yes?" When Nicky nods, she says, "So he'll understand if we need to put a security detail on him. We can decide if him staying on campus is safer or if he should relocate off campus so he can stay with you."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Okay. Let's try staying on campus with security for now. If he disappears it might alert the Moriyamas that we're planning something." Legitimate justification </span>
  <em>
    <span>and</span>
  </em>
  <span> excuse for Aaron to stay at school. Nicky's pretty proud of that one.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Mina nods. "I'll make sure Erik knows. As for the two of you, talk to Allison. Find out what she's able to do and how long she can stay. Make sure she understands the stakes first. I wouldn't object at all to her working with us, but she's in a delicate position, and it would be best to stay on her family's good side."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"We need a better plan than 'take out the Butcher.'" Philipp sits back in his chair. "Of course, the Hatfords probably have some ideas, but you've been in Moriyama territory for years. How do we weaken them?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>For less than a heartbeat, Nicky worries about all the eyes on him, waiting for a response. Even Andrew's looking at him. But then the answer comes. "The Moriyamas sent their own people after us, probably entry-level enforcers. The Butcher's much more hands-on. He doesn't have as many people that he sends out to do his work for him, and the people he </span>
  <em>
    <span>does</span>
  </em>
  <span> send out are incredibly dangerous. Not to mention valuable to the Butcher and the Moriyamas. To get to him, we'll have to go through enough low-level Moriyama enforcers that they start sending out the big guns."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"War of attrition," Andrew says.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Yeah. That'll be hard, because we won't have the same numbers as them, so we'll have to be very protective of our own people. If we can force the Moriyamas to underestimate us, we can bait them pretty easily and pick people off in small groups. It just needs to be faster than they can recruit more."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Working with the Hatfords will help with that," Alice says. "The Moriyamas can't watch absolutely everyone. The more families we can draw from, the easier it'll be to conceal how many people are actually working for you."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Philipp raises his eyebrows again, but this time he looks more amused than anything. "Is this your way of bringing the conversation back around to recruiting the Moreaus?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She shrugs. "We don't have much to lose, as long as they can't alert the Moriyamas."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"That is true. I don't know how much they'd be able to contribute for personnel in the United States, but I'm sure at least some of them would jump at the chance to throw off Moriyama control."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Hostile takeovers tend to have that effect," Mina says with a slight smile. "The Moreaus have never put the same emphasis on enforcement that most of us do, so keep us updated on your tactics, Nicky. If we can get them to rebel against the Moriyamas, they'll be outnumbered as well."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nicky nods. "Can you have someone send me all the info we have on the Butcher and his inner circle? I don't think we'll be able to pick and choose who we run into first, but it would be helpful to know what we're facing."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I'll do that today." She surveys him through the screen. "I'll also send you a list of things you need to run this operation and money to get you started. Tell us if you need more."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"And don't forget to go to the doctor," Philipp adds. "Is there anything else?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Nicky's parents were probably the ones who told the Moriyamas how to find him," Andrew says.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Right.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nicky can see Andrew's words hit the Kloses like a stone dropping into a pool of water. Erik's still out talking with Stuart Hatford—and he probably will be for a while—but the other three look...</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Angry.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Haven't they done enough?" Mina snaps. "If they know what's good for them, they'll stay out of it."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"They've never known what's good for them," Alice mutters.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>An awkward, heavy silence settles.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It's been a long time since Nicky's parents have come up in conversation. He'd almost forgotten how the Kloses' hackles rise in sync when Luther and Maria Hemmick are mentioned. It's better than the looks of pity Nicky used to get, hidden quickly but not quickly enough. Nobody's ever suggested killing them, but Nicky is pretty sure they've at least discussed it among themselves, judging by the looks he's seen Alice and Philipp give each other in the past. It's endearing, which offers of murder probably shouldn't be, but Nicky threw normal standards out the window the day he decided to stay with the Kloses.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Nicky," Philipp says.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Yeah?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Real eye contact is impossible through the video conference, but somehow it feels like Philipp is managing it anyway. "You deal with your parents the way you want to. Okay? Tell us what you need to make it work, whatever you decide."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Nicky of ten or six or even three years ago might have choked up. Now, he doesn't. It feels inevitable, like his parents were never going to just fade into the background and fall behind. Nicky tried that, and it just led to sending them selfies that would annoy them to try to get some sort of reaction, </span>
  <em>
    <span>anything</span>
  </em>
  <span> out of them. He has to do something about them. He's not sure what, but then, he's always been one to think on his feet. The Hemmick nuclear family will go out with a bang, not a whimper, and then Nicky will finally be able to delete their numbers from his phone. "I will. Thank you."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Philipp nods. "Good. Anything else before we end the call?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Nicky shrugs. Andrew shakes his head.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Alright. I'll go see how Erik is faring with the Hatfords. Alice, why don't you take the lead on the Moreau family? Look for points of contention between them and the Moriyamas, anything we can offer them for switching sides besides money or territory. I'll figure out how much of France we can afford to let them have, so don't worry about that."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I have some ideas." Alice pulls her phone out. "I'll let you know what I find."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Everyone stay in touch," Mina says. "Especially the United States team. Keep us updated on what you're doing and what you need, since it affects how fast we move over here. Andrew, you'll need our contact information. Get it from Nicky. Also, let us know what skill sets you need over there so I know who to send. We should set a time for regular check-ins, but we can do that once you've gotten some sleep."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Great idea," Nicky says. "We'll talk to you later."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She smiles. "Sleep well."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The call disconnects.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You cannot fight the Butcher and keep Aaron safe in his college bubble at the same time," Andrew says.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Maybe." Nicky shrugs. "But he worked his ass off to get there. I'm giving it a shot. If there's any real threat to his safety, we'll figure something else out."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Andrew nods, but Nicky can feel the skepticism radiating through the air.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Whatever. They'll be fine for now.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He pushes off of the couch to plug his phone back in. "So, full disclosure, I'm planning to sleep for as long as physically possible. Maybe we should put a raincheck on that doctor visit until tomorrow."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I don't care."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Awesome. Then on that note, goodnight."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Of course, they have to find the guest bedrooms first, since Allison and Seth are both sleeping, but Nicky's mind is half dreaming already. The Kloses have put him in charge of the entire United States operation, and the Moriyamas will regret pinning him as the weak link. Nicky has never been the type of person who's obsessed with making a name for himself, but he can't deny the appeal. By the time he's done with the Butcher, the entire organized crime world will know to watch out for him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He'll have to do something about his parents, but Nicky's confident that something will come to him. Maybe he's just delaying actually thinking about it, but there's plenty on his plate already. He can delay for a long time.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>After all, if his parents were scared by the idea of having a gay son, he can only imagine how freaked out they'll be by a gay son who's made a name for himself in the criminal underworld. The difference is, this time he has the upper hand.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Today is for recovering.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tomorrow is for hitting back hard.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>WOOOOOOOOOOO FINALLY ANOTHER CHAPTER!!!</p><p>i'll probably be updating VERY slowly for all of my ao3 fics atm. i'm balancing 2 active fic wips with starting on my next novel, not to mention a bunch of ideas that i want to write as well, so i can't guarantee an update schedule for this one way or another, especially since the chapters are quite long.</p><p>nonetheless, my hope is to get at least another chapter done while i'm on break from school, and get started on the one after that as well! we'll just see how things go</p><p>thank you so much to the ppl on tumblr who told me they were excited for this chapter and responded to my request(s) for writing encouragement!!! and as always thank u for reading&lt;3</p><p>love, birl</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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